


we can do this, if you want

by KirstieJ



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alcohol, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Coming out (sort of), Communication, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Meet-Cute, Olympics, Partying, Winter Olympics, hook-ups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:26:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7792261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirstieJ/pseuds/KirstieJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eric Bittle, working with an international catering company, is working behind the scenes at the Winter Olympics and it's a dream come true. He expects to have a blast, meet cool people, possibly make some friends and do some potential networking. It's not a huge surprise, then, when he meets NHL Hockey Player and Olympian (representing Canada) Jack Zimmermann, but it's still pretty exciting. Eric has no idea why he starts flirting with the guy, but maybe it'll work out in his favor. </p><p>Winter Olympics au!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Eric hums lowly as he rolls his cart over to the long, banquet style table. With his gloves on, he takes the plastic top off of one of the trays, refilling the muffins first because they’re the lowest out of all the trays. Hilariously, the veggie tray is one of the fullest, but he could refill the dipping sauce and load on some more baby carrots and broccoli sticks. Shouldn’t the athletes be avoiding the muffins and eating their vegetables?

As a tall man approaches, Eric looks up from what he’s doing. The man is attractive, to stay the least, with sharp cheek bones, a strong nose, beautiful blue eyes. He has dark hair. “Hi there,” Eric greets, noticing the Canadian flag on the man’s sporty jacket. Hopefully he speaks English, or is at least bilingual, like most of the Canadians Eric’s met in the first few days of this whirlwind trip. 

“Hey,” the man greets. Eric meets his eyes. He recognizes the guy, and he’s trying to come up with the man’s name. He’s fairly sure the man plays _hockey_ for the Canadian team, and he’s probably in the NHL too when not at the Olympics.

Eric decides to stall while he tries to figure out the guy’s name and the possible team he plays for aside from Canada. “How’d the interview go?” he asks pleasantly, and the man looks a little surprised. “That’s what you were doing over there, right? Being interviewed?” Eric nods to where the man just walked over from. Previously, there had been two ladies there, one with a mic and the other with a huge camera.  

“Yes, it was. I believe it went well,” the man starts. He has a faint accent, so he’s likely bilingual. “I’m pretty used to interviews by now, so hopefully I gave them something they can air,” the man nods and Eric smiles politely at him.

“And this is your interview voice?” Eric asks, a slow smirk taking over his face as he watches the man’s surprised face.

There’s a brief pause before the guy laughs. “Yes, it is. Nice chirp.”

He’s definitely a hockey player, then. “Thanks. It’s been a long time since I’ve played any hockey myself, but I do try and keep my chirping skills pretty sharp. Just in case.” That earns him another laugh and Eric’s smile turns sweeter once again.

“You played hockey?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Eric rolls his eyes. “It was a long while back, just high school and college level. Nothing that would land me here for any sport-related reason.”

“Well... the athletes wouldn’t be able to do anything if it weren’t for the people working behind the scenes at every angle, we may not say thank-you as much as we should, but it does matter a lot.”

The smile still hasn’t left Eric’s face. In addition, there’s probably some blush dusting his cheeks by now. “Why thank you. I feel entirely blessed to be here catering and watching the events as it is. It's nice to have your work recognized, though,” he shrugs. Eric puts the plastic case back on top of the muffins and removes the one for the vegetables, moving a tiny bit down the table but not too far to continue conversing.

“Of course. Can I take one of these now?” he asks, pointing to the muffins on the table.

Eric laughs, “Sure can. Some of them might even be a batch I made myself.”

“Oh. You’re baking as well as serving?”

“Yeah, we’re rotating around on shifts. I love to bake but since I’m here I also like getting the chance to wander around and talk to people like you, y’know?”

“Yeah, I can see why that would be.” Eric watches the man pick out a cranberry muffin. 

“So,” Eric says, since the man hasn’t made any move to leave yet. “You play hockey, you’re from Canada. I’ve been trying my damn hardest this whole conversation to think of your name and I think I might have it now. Is it… Zimmermann?” Eric pulls a little face to show he’s not entirely sure of himself.

“Yes, Zimmermann. Jack,” he tells him.

“Jack, okay,” Eric nods.

“And you are?” Jack Zimmermann asks him, and Eric chuckles.

“Oh, my name’s Eric Bittle.” He points to the name tag hanging around his neck that indicates where he’s allowed to go with his guest pass.

“Eric,” Jack repeats. Eric suddenly loves hearing his name from that voice and wonders what it might be like to hear him call him by something more friendly, like Bitty or Bits.

“Well,” Eric says, looking at the table and putting the cover back on the vegetables. He grabs some cans to refill the basket of drinks in the middle. “I can’t say I hope Canada beats out the States in hockey, but I will wish you good luck for when you’re playing. I made sure to schedule around some of the games. Hockey is one of my favourite events, so I’ll be watching.”

“You’ll be in for some good games. I’m sorry to say you’ll likely end up disappointed, though. We plan to take the gold, after all.” Jack is suddenly grinning at him in a cheeky manner, and Eric loves the new expression.

Eric grins up at him in return, “Don’t you sound mighty confident?”

Jack just gives a shrug, “Nothing is set in stone, but we’ve worked very hard and I do have confidence in my team.”

“That’s a good thing,” Eric assures him with another smile. He obviously wants his country to win, but he wouldn’t mind cheering for this guy, especially when he isn’t playing against the United States. “You also play for the NHL, right?” Eric asks him, again looking unsure.

“I do, yes,” Jack nods. “For an American team, actually,” he offers.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Eric nods. “Jack Zimmermann… Are you somewhere on the East?”

“Yep,” Jack confirms for him, and Eric hums.

“It’s not… Boston, right?” Eric squints and Jack shakes his head no.

“Is it Providence?” Eric asks and Jack’s eyes light up.

“It is, yes.”

“Sweet! I’m getting good at this game,” Eric laughs.

“Do you usually chat up all the athletes like this?” Jack asks him, a little smirk on his features. Eric puts his last tray cover back on, looking at Jack.

They’ve only been there for about five days, and the first two were spent baking up a storm, so Eric has only had the chance to speak to a few athletes. He means to say something along those lines, but as his eyes settle on Jack’s once again, he opens his mouth and says, “Not all the athletes, just the cutest ones,” with a wink.

Jack’s eyes go a bit wider and Eric grips his cart with his gloved hands, able to tell how clammy they are all of a sudden. “See ya around,” he says in a deceptively smooth tone, but once he’s turned around his eyebrows are meeting his hairline.

He hears Jack call out a, “See you, Eric,” as he pushes his cart along, heart beating fast. He smiles despite the nerves. He hadn’t planned on flirting with the athletes here, but how could he resist such a beautiful guy? Eric shakes his head to himself, wondering if he’ll even manage to run into Jack again.


	2. Chapter 2

Eric does manage to run into Jack again, when he’s at the big gym with his co-worker Mimi Lonsdale. It had taken her half the day to let her talk him into it, but since he’s done no actual exercising since they arrived, he’s finally caved in. He doesn’t regret it, jogging lightly on the treadmill with a hot German bobsledder doing stretches right in front of him.

After the German guy leaves, Eric hops off the treadmill and takes a deep breath. It’s strange, working out with a bunch of world class athletes in the same room as him. There are volunteers and other folks with guest passes, though, which comforts Eric somewhat.

Grabbing his bottle, Eric heads over to the water fountain. To his right are a tall Italian woman (he knows she’s a figure skater) and an attractive American guy. He can only tell their countries of origin because of the flags on their outfits. They seem to be flirting up a storm, so Eric avoids staring too hard at them as he tries to fill his bottle.

“Hey there,” Eric hears, and he turns his head, lifting his eyes to rest on Jack Zimmermann’s pleasant face.

“Hi! Fancy meeting you here,” Eric offers a smile and puts the cap back on his water bottle. Jack leans forward to fill his own bottle up. “Not using the more private training facilities?”

“Not today,” Jack looks over at him for a second. “I have, up until now. A friend from the Falcs convinced me to come here,” Jack stands up straight and nods toward a big Russian guy near the weights. Eric can’t place his real name but he’s pretty sure he’s called “Tater”, which he only knows because he found time to skype a friend who follows NHL more than he does for a twenty-minute rundown on the Providence Falconers. 

Eric laughs, “That’s funny. My co-worker forced me to come here with her.” Eric searches for Mimi, then gestures to her. She’s near one of the machines, talking to an athlete who appears to be from the UK, based on his tank top. Mimi’s hair is blonde and almost curly, she’s wearing a pink and white sports bra and shorts.

“The girl?” Jack asks.

“Yeah,” Eric laughs. “She begged me to come because we haven’t worked out since we got here, but she seems a hellova lot more interested in chatting up that guy there,” Eric rolls his eyes.

“I think that’s most people’s real interest right about now,” Jack comments, glancing over at the Italian and American Eric had noticed a moment. They’re closer now, with the Italian’s hand on the American’s bicep.

Eric chuckles a bit, “I read online that the Olympic village was a bit of a… sex fest, but I definitely didn’t believe it until I saw it.”

“I wouldn’t believe it if it weren’t in front of my eyes,” Jack shakes his head. “I’m apparently one of the few single guys on my team who hasn’t _already_ hooked up with somebody. The games only officially started three days ago.” He scoffs a little.

Eric chuckles a little along with him. “Well, it’s not that huge of a surprise when you think about it, I suppose. Basically everybody here is fit and fairly young, and there’s a lot of adrenaline. I just hope everyone is taking advantage of the free condoms, y’know, staying safe and all that.”

Jack nods, “Yeah, that’s the most important thing.”

“Think you’ll do it?” Eric asks suddenly, looking over at Jack with a gleam in his eye. He has no idea why he flirted with Jack the first time, and he has no idea why he’s trying to make some sort of move now.

“Do what?” Jack just looks utterly puzzled, and Eric recognizes it as a chance to make some bullshit up instead of clarifying what he was trying to ask. He doesn’t take it.

“Hook up with anybody?” Eric asks nonchalantly, with a little shrug and an innocent smile. Jack’s face goes a little red.

“I- uh, I dunno. I haven’t really put any thought into it.”

The words ‘maybe you should think about it’ dance on Eric’s tongue but he manages to bite them back. Instead, he just laughs and says, “Sorry. I’m just joking around with you, I thought it would be funny. I mean.. I’d say I was right judging by the look on your face.” Eric snickers as Jack’s mortified expression wavers to one of exasperation and embarrassment instead.

“I should really be used to people taking the piss out of me by now, my friends and teammates have done it for years, but somehow it still manages to catch me off guard now and again,” he says with a little sigh and Eric laughs more.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I mean, it’s not as if I even know you, I definitely shouldn’t be talking to an Olympic hockey player like this. Everything on this trip is so surreal I just can’t be damned to think through everything I’m saying all the time.”

“At the end of the day I’m also just a regular person, you know. I think what really gets me is the fact you look so innocent; I don’t expect the chirps.”

“I mean, even if you weren’t a hockey player we’re still practically strangers,” Eric points out, even though Jack is here giving him the benefit of the doubt so he probably shouldn’t be making himself sound like a creep. “But I’ve also been told my looks are pretty deceptive, along with my polite southern way. It’s so easy to trick people into thinking I’m just _so_ innocent and wholesome.”

“That works to your advantage, eh?” Jack asks with a raised brow. Eric smirks.

“Mostly, yeah. Not that I’m a bad person, just less innocent than people take me for.”

“I wouldn’t think you’re a bad person,” Jack tells him. Eric chuckles out a “thanks” and Jack runs a hand through his dark hair.

“Zimboni,” Tater greets at he comes up beside Jack to refill his water bottle. “You will train sometime today?” He asks, a smirk forming on his face. “Or maybe you will just flirt with cute blond boy all day, either would be good for you.” Jack’s face starts to go red again.

“I-I’m not flirting.”

“You stand over here for ten minutes, chatting, and he laughs a lot.” Eric’s places his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing, but he goes red, too. Sure, he’s been flirting with Jack, but Jack hasn’t exactly been flirting back.

“He’s laughing at his own jokes,” Jack says truthfully and Eric covers his face, wanting the floor to swallow him. It was one thing to chirp Jack himself, but now Jack’s teammate from the Falconers is chirping him _about_ Eric and Jack doesn’t sound pleased about it.

“Fine. If you don’t flirt with him, I will do it instead. Hello there,” Tater stands up to cap his bottle and winks at Eric, who is peeking through his fingers over his eyes.

“Hi,” Eric says, smiling shyly as he slowly lowers his hands. 

“Leave him alone, Tater,” Jack says, sounding as exasperated as he looked a moment ago.

“Excuse you, does the cute blond boy want me to leave him alone? He did not say so.” Eric laughs again, covering his mouth once more. He can’t believe what’s happening to him.

“Shouldn’t we go train?” Jack retorts, not bothering to address the question.

“We? I have been training, twenty minutes now. You go train, as you should, and I talk to…?” Tater looks at Eric expectantly.

“I’m Eric,” he says, offering a hand. Tater shakes it, grip firm.

“Alexei,” he tells him, “but you can call me Tater.”

Jack just grumbles at him and glances at Eric, who just shrugs his shoulders with a wild and questioning look in his eyes.

“Okay, I kid,” Tater rolls his eyes. “We will train together,” Tater claps a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “It was nice to be meeting you, Eric.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Eric flashes a smile and waggles his fingers. “See you around, Jack.”

“Later,” Jack sighs, turning with Tater to steal the recently vacant elliptical machines. Eric finally makes his way over to Mimi, who seems to have just finished chatting with the UK athlete. He chuckles as she grills him for details on who he was just talking to, and what about. Eric pulls out his phone, tweeting as he explains the situation to Mimi and his followers at the same time.


	3. Chapter 3

The next time Eric runs into Jack is the next evening, as Eric returns from an event he’d been watching. They meet when Eric slips into one of the snack stations to grab some hot chocolate, and Jack is already there picking up a sandwich.

“Hey there stranger,” Eric says, his hip bumping Jack’s ever so lightly. He steps away as soon as they make contact, not wanting to crowd Jack. He’s gotten much better at casual physical contact with friends and acquaintances, though instigating it is something he still doesn’t do much.

“Hey,” Jack chuckles lowly and takes a step away from the table, turning to look at Eric. Eric grabs a cookie while he’s standing there.

“You look happy,” Eric observes.

“Canada just won a gold medal,” Jack tells him with pride in his voice and glee in his eyes.

“Oh really?” Eric raises his brows, but he’s not unhappy. He knows Canada is good, and he can respect that fine. Jack nods towards a television screen on the wall with two reporters speaking in French.

“Men’s skeleton,” Jack tells him, and Eric lets out a little ‘ahh’.

“Congrats to your country,” Eric says. “I was just watching the first round of ice dancing.”

“Oh, nice. I believe my mother was there as well. I’ve been trying to decide whether to go watch something or just head in for the night.”

“It’s not that late yet,” Eric points out, blowing on his hot chocolate. “You might as well do something fun for a little while at least.”

“I guess. First game is tomorrow, so I should be well rested. But I’m not that tired, honestly, even after training today,” Jack just shrugs, glancing at Eric. He takes a breath in through his nose, “Wanna go for a walk around?”

“Sure,” Eric says, not thinking much of it. He grabs a napkin from the table and takes a bit of the cookie, letting Jack lead the way. Jack stuffs a hand into the pocket of his sports jacket. He bites into the sandwich still in his hand as they walk together.

Jack clears his throat, “So, you’re from the States. Somewhere Southern, I’m guessing?” He takes another bite of tiny sandwich and suddenly all that’s left is the crust. He munches on that a moment later.

“I’m from Georgia, originally,” Eric tells him, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “I live in Samwell, now. I know you’re from Montreal, thanks to the internet.”  

“Samwell, eh? My mother went to college there,” Jack smiles at him and Eric smiles back.

“I knew that too,” he chuckles.

“Huh. Well, I guess I won’t need to tell you much about myself, seeing as you learned it all from google,” Jack rolls his eyes, but Eric thinks it’s good natured. He hopes, anyway.

“Hey now, I don’t know _everything_ about you. Nice job assuming I want to get to know you, Mr. Zimmermann,” Eric holds his head up high and Jack just laughs.

“Well, okay then. Here I was thinking you were trying to be my friend, or something like that. Guess I was mistaken,” Jack shrugs his shoulder, feigning indifference.

“No, you’re right. I would like to get to know you,” Eric tells him, tongue darting out to lick his lip, “or something like that.”

Jack breathes in through his nose, wondering if he’s imagining the little sparks of electricity he can feel between the two of them, the tension wrapping around their words as soon as they say them. He barely knows this guy, but they talk and laugh like they’re friends and occasionally they look at one another like they’re something more than that. It could all just be in Jack’s head, though he _knows_ Eric has flirted with him at least twice now.

“Good,” Jack says. “I’d like to get to know you as well,” he tells him, letting his elbow bump against Eric’s bicep. He likes the smirk Eric gives him in return.

Eric licks his lips again, drinking some more of his hot chocolate. “Well, Jack, ask away. I’m a pretty open book.”

“What’d you take at college?”

“I took American studies, I ended up focusing on food culture.”

“You weren’t joking when you said you liked to bake.”

“You remember me saying that?” a smile plays on Eric’s lips. “I honestly love baking. I didn’t think I’d end up doing it to make a living, but here I am, working for a catering company. Can’t say I regret it.”

“I’m glad you’re doing something you love, then,” Jack tells him. “Not everybody gets the chance.”

“No, I consider myself very lucky in that respect. You love what you do, too, right?”

“More than anything,” Jack answers earnestly. “Although, I’ve come to realize it doesn’t hurt to have other interests. I’m sure in your googling you came across the term ‘hockey robot’?”

Eric nods his head, “I did come across that, yeah. I didn’t quite understand it. You don’t come across as robotic in person… I mean, I guess I did chirp you for using your interview voice on me when we first met, but still.”

“I’m just very focused when I’m on the ice. I spend an awful lot of time on the ice. And, really, hockey is almost everything to me, but I’ve been getting better at letting it not be my _entire_ life. Of course, I’m still completely serious about it and l put 110% into my game, but…”

“I think I get what you mean. I was scared, when I started working for a catering company, that I would end up hating baking because it was a job. That didn’t happen, but then I started to worry that I was taking the job too seriously and wouldn’t make time for anything else in my life. It took a while to find that balance between work and life but I think I’m doing okay, for now at least.”

“That’s good to hear,” Jack tells him. “Balance can be very hard to strike.”

“Mhhh,” Eric responds, sipping his hot chocolate. They’ve managed to wander outside somewhere. It’s dark out, but it’s still only around 8:45 in the evening. There is noise and bustle with people trying to get different places, but the two of them appear to be fairly relaxed.

“Hmm. What’s something else I can ask to get to know you?” Jack muses, looking around. They slow near some benches, though the first one is occupied by a couple of people staring into each other’s eyes amorously.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Eric asks him, glancing at the couple of people as well. It’s too dim to recognize who they are, but they’re obviously close to jumping each other right there.

 “I’m a fan of blue, but I feel like I should say red and white right now. I tend to wear a lot of navy and black when I’m left deciding on clothes,” Jack shrugs. “What about you?”

“Hmm, I like the rainbow,” Eric chuckles. “Obviously. But I guess my favourite colour is yellow. Or maybe powder blue. Something cheerful,” Eric shrugs.

“Rainbows are nice,” Jack says. “I think yellow is fitting for you. Warm and sunny, that sort of thing.”

“Awh, thanks.” Eric looks up at him with a smile and takes another sip of his hot chocolate. They come up to another bench and Jack holds his hand toward it, Eric sits down and Jack takes the spot next to him.

Another couple, a different one, are sitting on the bench across the walkway from them. The guy has his arm slung over the girl’s shoulder and he’s wearing a jacket to indicate the country he plays for, like so many people there. The girl is wearing the brightly coloured jacket of a volunteer and she seems to be laughing at what the guy is saying.

“Think you’ll do it?” Jack asks, nodding towards the couple. Eric looks at him, puzzled.

“Do what?”

“Hook up with somebody here. If you haven’t, already,” Jack tries for the same nonchalance Eric used when he asked him the very same thing just yesterday. Eric makes a little noise in his throat before rolling his eyes at Jack.

“Oh, haha, very funny.”

“What? You asked me, I can’t ask you?” Jack puts his arm over the back of the bench, not too close to Eric’s shoulder.

Eric just shifts his body a bit to look at Jack, holding his Styrofoam cup with both his hands. His cheeks are red and it’s probably not because of the cold, Jack can just make it out thanks to the street lamp over the bench they’re sitting on.

“I haven’t, yet. I can’t say I haven’t thought about it, though. I mean… If the opportunity presents itself,” Eric shakes his head and glances down, chuckling a little. “I’m just not expecting many of the men here to be openly interested in sleeping with other men, so, y’know.” And, sure, he knows there are dating apps for that, but although he talks bold Eric is a lot shyer when it comes to reality. He hasn’t been brave enough yet to even open Grindr, but in his defense he’s been busy running around since he stepped off the plan, and all his phone breaks are dedicated to twitter updates.

“Don’t be so sure of that,” is Jack’s only response, voice low.

Eric glances up at him, head still bent a little. He clears his throat and grips his cup a little tighter, then lifts his head with a quick motion. “I mean, Tater seemed pretty interested in flirting with me, so there was that,” he puts a playful smile on his lips.

Jack licks his lips. Why is this so hard? He’s awful at flirting, but Eric seems so good at it, he was hoping Eric would give him a better in than this. Jack’s not sure why he’s even trying, he hasn’t hooked up with somebody in literal years and he shouldn’t be seeking any sort of distraction from his game in the middle of the Olympics. At the same time, some of his teammates swear that it _helps_ them, it’s an outlet for their nerves and it’s easier to do here than in the regular season of hockey.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly thinking of Tater,” Jack tells him, hoping the pause wasn’t too long. Did he lose the moment? Why is he even doing this?

“No?” Eric asks, placing his hand on the bench between their thighs. He leans a little closer. “Who were you thinking of, then? Care to introduce me?”

Okay, that’s a little better. Eric’s eyes are wide in the dim light and his little smirk is too adorable. He’s such an odd combination of bold and subtle that it drives Jack crazy. “You might have already met him,” Jack says, voice a little quieter. Eric just smiles at him, fingers edging towards Jack’s leg. “I could… take you to his room,” Jack breathes, his gaze holding Eric’s. He can feel that his palms are sweaty and he’s entirely unsure how he managed to say that without choking on the words.

“I think I would like that,” Eric murmurs, eyes glancing to Jack’s lips for a moment.

“Let’s go?” Jack asks, shifting a bit, and Eric nods his head enthusiastically with a pretty smile on his face. Jack stands and offers his hand, Eric takes it long enough to stand up and squeeze it but they let go in order to start towards to the housing accommodations Jack is staying in.


	4. Chapter 4

So, Eric finds himself lying underneath Jack Zimmermann on a bed in the Olympic village with Jack's face in his neck. Eric curls his fingers around Jack's shoulders as Jack runs a hand down Eric's side, slipping his fingers under Eric's shirt in order to push it up. Jack pauses his assault on Eric's neck just long enough to get Eric's shirt off completely before bending back down to kiss on his collar bone.

"Jack," Eric breathes, trailing his hand down Jack's bare back, feeling up his muscles.

Jack doesn't seem interested in wasting much time now that they've started, unbuttoning Eric's jeans with his free hand. Eric lifts his hips as Jack sits back again, tugging at the fabric to pull them down.

As Eric settles back down, Jack takes in Eric’s body with an intense gaze. "You good?" Jack asks him, flicking his eyes up to meet Eric’s once more, fingers on the outside of Eric's now-bare thigh.

"I'm better than good, sugar," Eric says with a sigh and Jack grins at him. It's a bit too cute for the context they're in right now, but Eric doesn't mind. Jack drags his fingertips over Eric's leg to rest on the inside of his thigh, pushing lightly.

Eric gets the idea and spreads his legs. Jack stuffs his free hand in the pocket of the pants he's still, regretfully, wearing. He tosses a handful of condoms and lube packets onto the bed.

"Were you hoping we'd run into each other or something?" Eric teases, reaching forward to brush his hand along Jack's forearm.

"Well, yes," Jack says in all seriousness. "But I literally just grabbed those when you were saying hi to Tater."

Eric lets out a laugh, wondering how he hadn't noticed that when he was in the lobby of the building.

"Safety first, eh?" Jack says and Eric makes another noise of amusement.

"Mmhmm. I promise I’m clean, anyway, but they’re good to have," he responds, voice low.

“I’m clean, too,” Jack assures him. He doesn’t mention the fact it’s been over a year since he’s had sex with anyone at all, and he was definitely checked between that last time and now. Instead, Jack just leans forward to kiss him again, and Eric lifts his hand to Jack's hair. He feels Jack's hand making its way up his thigh again, tugging gently at his underwear. Eric lifts his hips to help him out, sucking in a breath as he feels his cock exposed to the air. He lets out another little moan as Jack wraps a hand around him, slowly sliding his hand up Eric’s hard length a couple times. Eric’s eyelids flutter as Jack squeezes him a little tighter, leaning to kiss Eric’s neck again.

Hockey must not be the only thing Jack gets laser-focused on, Eric muses, as Jack strokes his cock faster. Eric sucks in a breath and tries to keep quiet, jumping slightly when he hears a bang on the wall next to him.

“Jack, what was that?” Jack lifts his head from the spot he was likely sucking a bruise below Eric’s collar. Well, at least a shirt will cover it.

Jack pauses and listens, and the silence is broken by some loud moaning from a likely female voice.

“Just some other people hooking up,” he says, all matter-of-fact.

“Oh.”

“So don’t be afraid to make some noise,” Jack says, voice a little husky, “the neighbours deserve some payback by now.”

Eric laughs a little but it breaks off into a moan as Jack starts to slide his hand up his cock once again, sliding his thumb around the head. “Fuck,” Eric breathes. Jack kisses down his chest, his strokes slowing down once again.

“Can I blow you?” Jack asks, edging backwards so he can bring his face near Eric’s cock.

“Oh my god, yes,” Eric breathes hard, running a hand through his own hair. “If you want,” he breathes.

“Hah, okay. Consent is important,” Jack tells him.

“Of course it is, honey,” Eric says.

“I didn’t mean to break things up, or make it awkward, I just-“

“Jack,” Eric shuts his eyes for a seconds. His mouth is right there and Jack’s hot breath on his cock is just such a teasing little sensation Eric can’t stand it any longer.

“I’ll stop talking,” Jack mutters, and instead gives Eric’s cock a long lick before bobbing down on the head. Eric gives a sudden moan and Jack looks up at him, pupils blown and cheeks hallowed.

“Fuck, Jack,” Eric moans, pushing Jack’s hair back with his fingers. Jack shuts his eyes again and focuses on the task at hand (or mouth, hah). He bobs down further and sucks, listening to Eric’s sweet moans and noises fill his ears. He holds the base of Eric’s cock as he works him with his mouth, going fast and slow until he finds a good pace that Eric seems to like.

Eric plays with Jack’s hair with one hand and squeezes the bedsheets in his fist with the other. He isn’t overly loud, but he tends to let out frequent breathy moans and groans, punctuating with “fuck” or Jack’s name.

 He can mostly tune out the noises from next door, which are definitely louder than his own. The further gone he becomes, the less he cares, so as long as Jack keeps up his good work.

“God, yes, Jack,” Eric pants as Jack speeds back up again, starting to become truly relentless. “I-I’m getting close,” he mumbles, tugging at Jack’s hair.

Jack slides off him with a popping sound, his hand at the base of Eric’s cock quickly making up for the loss. Jack has no idea where he gets the idea, but he says, “Cum for me.”

“Fuck,” Eric breathes, “l-like this? You’re okay with that?” Eric feels incredibly lucky he even manages to string that many words into a sentence, so he hopes Jack’s response doesn’t prompt any more intelligible thought from him.

“Of course,” Jack says, pumping him slowly as Eric breathes through his nose, heart pounding. “C’mon,” he says. “Or at least in my mouth.”

Jack smiles up at him, coy. Eric leans his head back and Jack mumbles something else in a husky voice, until he slides his lips back on Eric’s cock. It’s not long after that he’s finally coming undone. He swallows some, but lets some spurt over his mouth. It’s not a sensation Jack thought he would ever like, but it’s got an almost nostalgic value to it, now. It doesn’t even occur to him that he’s missed having sex with another person until this very moment. He can’t remember feeling this way with the last person he hooked up with, though.

“Fuck,” Eric groans once more, opening his eyes to look at Jack’s face, looking entirely sinful with Eric’s cum on his lips and cheeks. Eric leans back and looks around, reaching for some tissues on the beside table. He hands them to Jack, who wipes at his face.

“So,” Eric says, scooting back so he can sit up and look at Jack. “Do I get to have some fun now, too?”

“Was that not fun for you?” Jack asks and Eric nearly snorts. He turns his noise of amusement into a little chuckle.

“Of course it was, baby, but I want to make you feel good too, hm?”

“If you want,” Jack agrees, kneeling on the bed. He slides his pants down and Eric watches him, reaching out a hand to touch Jack’s glorious chest. Eric moves a little closer once Jack finally joins him in nudity, sliding his hand down to Jack’s cock to touch him lightly. Jack lets out a hiss and Eric cuts him off with his lips, slipping his tongue into Jack’s mouth as he grips his dick a little tighter. Eric feels Jack groan into his mouth a few moments later, stroking him slowly before teasing the bead of precum with his thumb. Jack’s not cut, which Eric kind of likes now that he’s been with a few guys, not that it would be a deal breaker if he was.

Eric decides to give Jack much the same treatment that Jack gave him, if Jack’s okay with that. Eric breaks the kiss with a hot breath and ducks his head, kissing Jack’s neck as he strokes him steadily.

Jack’s moans aren’t as frequent as Eric’s, but they’re louder and gruffer when they come. Eric bites on Jack’s neck but he’s careful to not leave any marks. As bad of a reputation the Games get, Eric can’t see Jack appreciating sporting a hickey while he’s representing his country on the ice. He moves down, his free hand on Jack’s hip as he kisses over his chest. Eric slides his hand up to brush his thumb over Jack’s nipple, earning a little shiver.

Eric slows his hand on Jack’s cock as he lifts his head up. “Wanna move to the edge of the bed so I can blow you, too?” he asks, winking once.

Jack nods at him and Eric moves back, giving Jack space to switch his position. Eric slides to the edge of the bed and moves so he can get on his knees in front of Jack, putting his hands on Jack’s sculpted thighs. Jack slides his fingers through Eric’s hair and Eric smiles at him, edging a little closer as Jack moves his knees apart. Eric take’s Jacks cock in his hand again, stroking him twice before taking him into his mouth. Eric hears Jack groan, gruff, as he swirls his tongue around the head of Jack’s cock before bobbing down on him and sucking.

Leaning one hand back on the bed, Jack uses his free hand to keep playing with Eric’s pretty blond hair. He mumbles something low, glancing down to meet Eric’s eyes staring up at him with lust. Jack swallows and moans, hot and heavy. Eric shuts his eyes for a moment, quickening his movements. Jack bites his lip. He’s closer than he wants to be, having been hard for a while now. Also, with Eric sucking him off with such enthusiasm it’s hard not to be drawn to the edge.

When he really can’t hold back anymore, Jack tugs on Eric’s hair (not unlike what Eric did to him), and tells him he’s close. Eric looks up at him, a brow raised, and Jack realizes a beat later he might have said it in French. “I-I’m close,” he corrects and Eric makes a noise, pulling off of him.

“I’ll swallow, if you want,” Eric says, stroking him lightly to keep him at the edge, but not push him over. Jack nods and Eric leans in again, taking Jack’s cock back into his mouth.

Jack comes with another moan, tightening his fist in Eric’s hair. Eric makes a noise and manages to swallow it down, pulling off Jack another moment later. He takes in a deep breath through his nose, looking up at Jack with a little smile as he using Jack’s knee to help himself stand.

Eric’s not entirely sure what happens at this point, so he glances around to at least locate his clothes in case he’s gotta make his escape soon. His boxers are on the bed, his shirt had been discarded on the way over so that’s in the middle of the floor, and the same fate with his jacket. His pants are on the floor, and he gives them a little kick.

“Are you leaving?” Jack asks, fingers trailing down Eric’s arm.

“If you want me to,” Eric tells him.

Jack bites his tongue, looking up into Eric’s eyes. He’s smart enough to know this night likely means absolutely nothing to Eric, just an exciting story to tell people. He can say he hooked up with an NHL hockey star and Olympian while working for a catering service. Hell, people might even believe him, once Jack comes out.  

“Not yet,” Jack says and Eric runs his hand through Jack’s hair. It might mean absolutely nothing to Eric and it should mean nothing to Jack, too, because he met this guy four days ago and he’ll probably never see him again once the Olympics are over.

“Lie down with me?” Jack asks, voice soft, and Eric nods. The bed isn’t huge, nothing compared to Jack’s bed in Providence, but they can squeeze in comfortably.

Eric hums as Jack wraps his arms around him. He wasn’t expecting Jack to be cuddly, but he’s not complaining. He’s cooled off enough himself to be in the mood for it. He’s content to shut his eyes and lie there. Jack must have other ideas.

“Was that okay?” Jack asks him, still quiet.

“It was better than okay,” Eric says, tracing shapes on Jack’s chest with his finger.

“Okay,” Jack breathes. “This, uh, isn’t something I normally do. Like, ever,” Jack tells him.

Eric grins lazily and looks up at him, “Oh really? What makes me so special?”

“I don’t know,” Jack says, and Eric snorts at him. “You hit on me?”

“You’re telling me nobody else has ever hit on you?” Eric asks and Jack furrows his brows.

“No. People hit on me frequently enough, but not as many men as women. Still, you’re not the first man to hit on me in two years,” Jack licks his lips, thinking. “I don’t know what it is about you. You’re attractive, friendly, direct… I just like you, I guess?”

Eric laughs again and dances his fingers up to Jack’s chin, pushing himself forward to kiss him on the lips. “Good. I like you, too.”

“I’m glad,” Jack murmurs and holds him closer. His mind swiftly drifts off to hockey, even with the cute blond in his arms, because Jack still has a _game_ tomorrow, for team Canada. He’s still at the Olympics, he still has work to do. At the same time, though, he knows he’s trained hard. The practice today went excellently, which probably lends itself to the reason he was even relaxed enough to think about hooking up with somebody.

Eric simply cuddles up to Jack and thinks about how amazing it is that he’s even here right now, let alone in bed with an Olympian. He can’t lie and say Jack’s career didn’t influence his decision to sleep with him. Eric’s not incredibly ‘easy’, he’s not hugely into hooking up with people he doesn’t know, but he’ll make exceptions for world class athletes.  However, it’s a bonus that he genuinely likes Jack. He’s strangely easy to talk to, even if he comes off sort of stiff and awkward at times, and he’s fun to tease.

Jack takes deep breaths. He should be sleeping, soon, but he sort of wants to go take a shower. He doesn’t want to kick Eric out, but he’s not sure if him staying the night would be a good idea. He might not sleep well with somebody else in his bed, and he needs to get rest.

Eric’s half asleep, but he doesn’t really plan on staying. When he hears his phone ring it’s a good excuse for him to startle into motion, extracting himself from Jack’s arms and going to pick up his jacket where his phone is zipped in the pocket. He picks it up, answering with a confused, “Mother?”

“Dicky!” he hears the shrill voice greet him, and Eric starts back over to the bed, picking up his boxers and pulling them onto his legs.

“What are you calling me for? Mama, this has got to cost a fortune,” he gripes.

“It won’t be long! I just wanted to see how my boy was doing so far from home. Are you having fun?”

“Tons,” Eric says sincerely, trying to pull up his jeans as quietly as he can. He doesn’t zip them, yet, knowing that will make a distinct noise. “I do miss y’all, but it’s been so busy here I haven’t had any chance to feel homesick for either Madison or Samwell.”

“Well that’s good to hear! I’m glad you’re having a good time. It’s such an amazing opportunity for you.”

“You know me, always an opportunist, mother,” Eric chuckles and picks up his shirt. “I should probably get going, mama. I really don’t wanna keep you on the line for very long.”

“That’s okay, pumpkin. Maybe we can skype sometime this week, hm?”

“Yeah, I can try to swing that.”

“One last question. Have you met any interesting people? Famous athletes?”

Eric looks back at Jack with a smirk, “Yeah, I met a few. Two guys in the NHL, one of them being Jack Zimmermann.”

“Jack Zimmermann? Isn’t that Bad Bob’s son? Oh, Dicky, if you see him again you should ask for his autograph!”

“Yeah, if I see him again,” Eric holds back his laughter. “I’m gonna let you go now, mother.”

“Okay! Facebook me about skyping later, Dicky, I mean it. I want to hear some more details before you forget them in all the excitement,” Eric’s eyes go wide when he thinks of some of the details he’ll be leaving out but he just swallows down those thoughts and breathes out his nose.

“I promise. Love you, mama. Bye.”

“Goodbye darling! Mwah!” Eric mimics the kiss noise then hits end on the call, chuckling to himself as he zips up his jeans and pulls his shirt back on.

“Your mother?” Jack asks, sitting up against his headboard.

“Yeah,” Eric snorts. “She wants me to get your autograph, if I see you again,” Eric tells him, going over to sit on the bed as he checks his phone.

“I mean, I could always sign your ass,” Jack tells him and Eric laughs.

“Yeah, I’ll snap a picture of that and send it home to mama _right away_.” Eric clears his throat, “I’m sure she’d appreciate if you let me take home a card or shirt you signed, but I won’t bug you about it.”

Jack touches Eric’s back, “Of course. I’ll sign whatever you want, just bring it to me when we’re both free.”

Eric grins at him and twists his body to kiss Jack on the lips once. “Mmkay.” He glances at his phone again, this time to check the clock. “I guess I should probably go. I have a shift disgustingly early in the morning.”

“What time?” Jack asks.

“Seven. It could be worse, I guess, but I wish I could sleep in.”

“Alright,” Jack says. “I might see you tomorrow. Our game is in the afternoon.”

“My shift ends at twelve-thirty, I plan to be there,” Eric tells him. “I’ll cheer for you, since you’re not playing against the States.”

“Good,” Jack murmurs, and Eric leans in to kiss him once more.

“Well, g’night,” Eric says as he pulls back from Jack. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Jack says, watching as Eric collects his jacket from the floor on the way out of the door. Eric flashes him one last sunny smile before shutting it behind him, leaving Jack to the stillness of his room.


	5. Chapter 5

After sleeping with each other, Eric and Jack see each other at least once a day for the next couple days. They've gone back to Jack's room together one other night, but mostly they just find themselves chatting in the break rooms, increasingly with Jack ranting about hockey. Jack's a bit more of a hardass now that hockey is in full swing, but Eric can understand why that would be. He's sort of flattered that Jack still stops to talk to him, when he's obviously got so much more on his mind.

This is one of those moments, where Eric feels lucky Jack is here talking with him. It won't be long before Jack will have to hit the ice, yet the two of them are standing together in the rink with Jack’s hockey bag on the ground next to his leg. He's quietly expressing his worry to Eric, because his men were a bit shaky during their earlier game and this next one will undoubtedly be tougher. Jack's got one arm against the ledge of the board, and Eric reaches out to grip his forearm.

"One bad game won't cause you to lose your shot now, Jack," Eric tells him. "There’s plenty of time to get your footing back, just try to remind yourself of that, hm?"

Jack nods his head. He wants to reach out and hug Eric, but they're in a public venue with a lot of people and he doesn't want to get weird looks. He and Eric have repeatedly reminded each other (and themselves) that they don't really know each other that well, but they’ve started to use the term “friend” at least. It’s a lot more convenient than “guy I’m hooking up with”, for sure. And despite their lack of a solid relationship, Jack's confiding in Eric and Eric is doing his best to give a pep talk. It's a good one, delivered with sincerity and care.

"I know. I'm trying to drill that into my head, but-"

"Yo, Zimms? Is that you?" Jack looks over to see a blond guy in a Team America jersey walking up to him.

"Parson?" Jack raises a brow at him. "Hey," he says, and Kent comes up to him to give him a classic handshake + two pat bro hug combo.

"Hey man. How's it going?"

"It's alright. Eager to get back out there," Jack says, glancing at the ice beyond glass to his right.

"Your one true love, huh? I'm sure she's ready for you. Especially after that performance earlier today," Kent grins and Jack narrows his eyes at him. Kent holds up his hands, "Hey, all I'm saying is it's your chance at redemption." Jack scoffs at him.

"Whatever, Parson," he sighs sharply. The last thing Jack needs is Parse chirping and gloating at him.

"Hey, you coulda always played for the States and been on the winning team instead. You got that choice dual citizenship," Kent shrugs at him and Jack rolls his eyes. "So who's your friend here?" Kent turns to Eric for the first time in the conversation.

"This is Eric," Jack says, waving a hand in front of him. "Eric, Kent Parson."

"It's a pleasure," Eric says, holding out his hand.

"Hey, actually, I think we met. You're with one of the catering services, right?"

"Why yes I am," Eric says. "I think I met you my second day here?"

"Yeah, after lunch. You had killer cupcakes, bro."

"Thanks,” Eric says, glancing between the two hockey players.

Kent shoves a hand into the pocket of his sweatpants, looking at Jack again. "So, Zimms, you think anything more about that thing you asked me a couple months ago?"

"Pardon?"

"Y'know, the thing. Concerning you, and me, that one thing."

"Oh. Yeah, I've thought about it."

"Mhmm," Kent said, rocking on his heels.

"I'm going through with it, as long as everything still stands. Not until after the season is over, of course," Jack says. Eric looks back and forth between the two of them. They're being incredibly cryptic.

"Okay, good. Everything still stands on my end."

“Good,” Jack tells him with a curt nod.

“Anyway,” Kent rocks back again, then runs a hand through his hair, “I’m gonna go grab a beer. See you later, Zimms, Eric.”

“See ya,” Eric says and Jack mutters a goodbye. He looks back at Eric with a little grimace, but his face has been looking like that a lot lately. Eric pats Jack’s hand again and gives him a tiny smile.

“You’ll be fine,” Eric says and Jack just sighs. He looks back, seeing a couple other Team Canada hockey players enter the rink.

“I know. I’ll see you later, eh?”

“If you want to,” Eric says and Jack nods again.

“Yeah, I do. And, hey, one of my friends flew in today. He should be here by the time the game starts. Maybe he could sit with you?” Jack asks. “If you don’t have room with you or whatever it’s no problem,” Jack pauses and Eric jumps in, laughing a little.

“That’s no problem at all, he can sit with me. I’ll just be with Mimi and maybe Carter, anyway.”

“Okay. Can I text you when he’s here? Or, Facebook you or something.”

“Sure, but that would require you having my number, or Facebook,” Eric smiles and Jack blinks at him.

“I don’t have your number, right,” he mutters. “Um, could I get your number?”

“Sure,” Eric repeats with a laugh. “Though Facebook would probably be better for here.”

“Why don’t you give me your number _and_ I’ll add you on Facebook?”

“That works.”

Once Jack gets out his phone, Eric rattles off his number, and Jack sends him a text saying ‘It’s Jack :-)’.

  “Cutie,” Eric murmurs as he saves Jack Zimmermann as a contact on his phone. Jack spends a minute finding the right ‘Eric R. Bittle’ on Facebook but eventually adds him, and Eric can’t see his profile picture until he accepts the request.

“Good. Now you go group up with your team. I’m gonna go grab hot chocolate with Mimi. Facebook me when your friend gets here.”

“Okay. See you,” Jack says, leaning down to pick up his hockey bag and heave it over his shoulder. He claps Eric on the shoulder as he passes him, being joined by another member of his team. Eric watches him go before he shoots a Facebook message to Mimi to make sure they’re still on for their hot chocolate.

Forty-five minutes, two mugs of hot chocolate, and a jumbo-sized cinnamon roll later, Eric and Mimi are heading back to the skating complex, trying to find Jack’s friend “Shitty” standing outside. 

Thankfully Jack was able to send Eric a picture of the guy he’s supposed to be looking for before going silent. The guys ends up being pretty easy to find, which is another blessing.

“Hey!” Eric says. “You’re friends with Jack?”

“Sup bro! You must be Eric,” Shitty greets him, looking entirely underdressed for the Winter Olympics in a light Team Canada sweater, jeans, and sneakers.

“That’s me,” Eric says, offering a hand. Shitty shakes it. “This is my friend Mimi. Mimi, this is Jack’s friend.”

“Hello, friend of Jack Zimmermann,” Mimi offers her hand as well.

“Name’s shitty, so people call me Shitty.”

“Seriously?” Mimi cocks her head to the side.

“Yep,” he says, and she nods slowly.

“And you’re friends with Jack Zimmermann.”

“I know, it baffles scholars and sports reporters alike, brah.”

Mimi laughs and Eric smiles. He thinks he’s gonna like this guy, even if it’s a bit hard to believe he’s Jack’s best friend. Eric’s been surprised by Jack Zimmermann before, though, so why stop now?

The three of them eventually trail in and find good seats to watch the game, Canada against Sweden. The game isn’t far from starting, so they just chat and get to know each other a little better until the players are all one the ice and the puck is ready to drop. Once it does, the three of them end up screaming with the rest of the crowd, their particular section full of people in red and white.

It’s a close game, but Sweden comes out on top, much to the Canadian fans’ dismay. The air hanging around Eric, Shitty, and Mimi is suddenly a little tenser, a bit more frigid. Mimi hugs the two boys before excusing herself to go find her other friends. Eric sticks around with Shitty, wringing his hands. He’s never seen Jack _directly_ after a loss, he strategically tried to steer clear of him the last time, so he’s a bit worried. He doesn’t want to say Jack comes off as the type that takes losing hard, but Lord, does he ever seem that way.

Shitty tells him Jack said, before the game, to meet him in the Olympian break room at the front of the rink, so they go to wait there. Thank god for Eric’s VIP pass, and Shitty’s got family privileges from Jack. 

They wait in silence for a bit, with a few athletes popping in and out to grab water and snacks, a few stopping to stare at the TV that’s showing recaps of the day.

“You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to, brah,” Shitty says and Eric looks at him with wide eyes for a moment.

“Do you think I should leave?” he asks, sucking on his teeth.

Shitty shrugs a bit, “You don’t have to or anything. It’s just, Jack can be a little… pissy after a game like this, but he probably won’t be too much of a dick. You can definitely stay, I was just saying, you look a little uncomfortable.”

Eric just lifts his shoulders, “Well, he said he wanted to see me ‘later’ before the game started, so I don’t really wanna just.. ditch.’’

“Ah, that’s fair. Stick around, then,” Shitty nods his head. “It can’t be too bad.”

“He said he was worried about the game earlier,” Eric says, voice just above a whisper.

Shitty’s eyebrows raise, “He told you that?”

“Um. Yes?” Eric asks, tilting his head.

“Huh. He must really like you, man,” Shitty grins at him. “Or he’s completely lost it. Either one.”

Eric just blinks at him, “Yeah. I mean, we’ve frequently discussed the fact that we sort of went from 0-100 like, three days after we met.”

“It’s probably the former, then,” Shitty snorts. “Normally it takes Jack a lot longer to warm up to people.”

“He’s mentioned,” Eric says, holding his head a bit higher.

“I’m glad, you seem like a nice guy. As long as your intentions with my best friend aren’t malevolent, it’s all good.”

Eric smiles a tiny bit, “I promise you, my intentions are nothing but pure.” He blinks, “well.. I mean, I dunno if pure is the exact word but they’re not bad intentions, I promise.” Shitty laughs at him.

“Jack said you played hockey, right?” Shitty asks, after a moment of silence.

“Yeah, in high school and college. I know I don’t look the type.”

“Naah. You’re just a tiny bit shorter than I imagined. What was your nickname? Wait, no, lemme guess. Eric Bittle, right? Hmm, was it Bits?”

“It was Bitty, but frequently shortened to Bits. Guess that counts for half a point,” Eric grins at him. It’s strange, to hear someone so unfamiliar use an old nickname like that.

“Bitty. Nice. I’m using it,” he says.

“Haha, okay.” Eric smiles at Shitty again.

“Shitty’s from hockey, too,” Shitty tells him.

“Never woulda guessed,” Eric sticks out his tongue a bit and Shitty laughs with him. A moment later, Jack is striding up to them, shoulders hunched a bit.

“Jack my boy!” Shitty cries and suddenly he’s plastered to Jack’s chest in a bear hug. Jack just wraps his arms around Shitty with a little noise in the back of his throat.

“Hey, Shits,” he says, and he sounds tired.

“Bro. Missed the fuck out of you,” Shitty says, letting go. “Did you get more swole? Is that even possible at this point?”

“Shitty, you saw me a month ago,” Jack rolls his eyes, but the beginnings of a smile have formed on his lips.

“You didn’t look quite this swole then. Or maybe it’s just the lighting in here.”

“Maybe,” Jack says. He glances from Shitty to Eric and then back again. “You’ve met Eric?”

“Yeah, me and Bitty have been hanging for a while, waiting for your choice ass to join us,” Shitty says, casually throwing his arm around Eric’s shoulders.

“Bitty? Did you seriously just nickname him in the first two hours you met?”

“One, don’t put it past me, I’ve come up with nicknames in much shorter timeframes. Two, I can’t take credit for it. It’s his _hockey nickname_ you fucking ding-dong. Did you not even ask him?”

“No?” Jack narrows his eyes and Shitty gives a dramatic eye roll.

“This motherfucker,” he says to Eric, who snickers a little.

“You weren’t kidding when you said your friends spend a lot of time chirping you, huh?” Eric asks, looking at Jack.

“Not even remotely. Anyway, we’re not planning on hanging out on here, I trust? Can we leave?”

Eric glances and Shitty and nods uncertainly. Shitty slides his arm off Eric’s shoulders. “Sure, bro, anything for you.” With that, the three of them start to walk out of the break room, then out of the rink.

Shitty stops them near the side of the road. “So, I can stick around for a while, if that’s what you want. Otherwise, I’m just gonna head back to the hotel and catch a couple z’s because the flight was pretty long.”

“You can go sleep,” Jack says, “but we can wait til you can catch a cab.”

They do just that, with Eric sort of lingering around the edges of the conversation as Jack and Shitty talk. Shitty occasionally throws a comment Eric’s way to keep him involved enough so that he doesn’t feel totally isolated, and at one point Jack has his hand on the small of Eric’s back for at least ten seconds before he drops it again.

Shitty gives them both hugs before he gets into the cab, then Jack turns to Eric. Eric clasps his hands together and looks up at Jack, curious.

“Um… do you want to go back to your room?” Eric asks.

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Eric asks and Jack raises a brow at him.

“Yes, if you want,” he says, and Eric nods slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're around halfway through or something!! Now is the time i'll shameless plug my tumblr, which can be found at gemsofthegalaxy.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as Eric shuts the door to Jack’s room, he locks it. He turns around to see Jack’s back being revealed as Jack hauls his shirt over his head. Jack drops it, and runs his hands through his hair, letting out a loud sigh.

Eric licks his lips, putting his hands together again. It’s never been more apparent to him how much he doesn’t know Jack, how they only met _days_ ago, a week at most, even though the days are starting to blur in his mind. Is he getting too close?

Jack’s shucking off his pants, his mind is, instead, filled with thoughts about the game. Everything they did wrong, everything _he_ did wrong out there on the ice, how every time he thinks he’s got everything under control he has to be reminded, harshly, that he can’t have everything under control. It’s not possible. He takes a deep breath, wanting to clear his mind. Normally, he’d end up letting himself stew for a while, either try to sleep or take a hot shower and eventually end up watching tape or something along those lines, trying to hypothetically fix mistakes but likely being too frustrated and burnt out to make any real progress until the next morning. It’s not the best method, but he’s gotten worlds better at rationalization and talking himself down when he’s in such a frustrated and anxious state.

Now, he licks his lips and sits on the bed, glancing over at Eric. He reaches out a hand and Eric walks over to him, hesitantly lifting his hand to run through Jack’s hair. Jack shuts his eyes and pulls Eric close, pushing his face into Eric’s stomach.

“Sugar,” Eric murmurs, and Jack looks up at him.

“Let me fuck you,” Jack murmurs back, and Eric’s eyes go comically wide.

Eric lets out a low chuckle, “Sure, baby.” He bites his lip, “Anything you want.”

“I want to be able to drown out my thoughts,” Jack tells him, and Eric smirks at him.

“How about some music?” Eric asks, taking his phone out of his pocket. He feels Jack’s hands move from his back down to his ass, giving a little squeeze before lazily running over his body, eventually trying to tug off Eric’s jacket.

“Music is fine,” Jack answers after a delay. Eric shrugs his jacket off while editing a playlist, eyes still on his phone as Jack squeezes his ass again, sliding his hands over Eric’s hips to undo the buttons on his jeans.

Eric hums once the playlist is about done. He gives it one final sweep to make sure no incredibly random songs got added into the mix. He shimmies his jeans down and steps out of them before going to plug his phone into the docking station Jack has set up on the little end table. He leans over more than he needs to and laughs when Jack smacks his ass.

“Like what you see?” Eric asks, looking over his shoulder as he hits play.

“Of course,” Jack says. “Grab some condoms out of that drawer.”

“On it,” Eric says, sighing as the room fills with a deep bass and Beyoncé’s voice. Of course she’s the first artist on his sexy playlist, who could be better to set the mood? And that goes for any mood, any time. He grabs the requested condoms and lube, walking back to stand in front of Jack. Jack’s hands are on his hips in an instant, pushing his shirt up and over his head before leaning in and kissing along his ribs.

Jack’s hands make their way to the back of his thighs as he pulls Eric closer, seemingly urging him to kneel on the bed. Jack says nothing, of course, kissing and nipping at Eric’s chest and stomach. Eric gets the message loud and clear when Jack almost causes him to lose balance, so he puts a hand on Jack’s shoulder and moves closer, kneeling on either side of Jack’s thighs. Eric makes a noise when Jack grabs at his ass again, looking up at him.

Eric shifts closer so he has some more balance, sitting in Jack’s lap now. Jack leans up and Eric puts a hand on his neck, leaning down to meet him in a kiss. It stays chaste for all of two seconds before Jack squeezes his ass and Eric moans, giving Jack the opportunity to slip his tongue in Eric’s mouth. As their kiss gets more heated, Jack rolls his hips up and Eric moans yet again. Eric starts to grind down the next time Jack gives a little thrust of his hips, meeting the time of the song that’s now playing.

The movements cause more moans to escape Eric’s lips, feeling himself grow hard beneath the thin fabric of his underwear. Jack’s hands are still all over his body as he kisses him, and eventually his hands slide into Eric’s boxers to cup his ass and pull him closer. Eric gasps and rolls his hips a little harder, shivering as Jack moves to pull his boxers down and suck on his neck.

Eric shifts back to stand again to take off his boxers, and reaches down to get Jack’s underwear off as well during their momentary pause. Jack grabs a packet of lube once they’re both naked, shifting a little further back on the bed.

“Do you want to…” Jack gestures with the packet of lube, reaching it out for Eric to take if he wants.

“I can,” Eric says, taking it from him. He kneels over Jack again, tearing it open to coat his fingers before reaching behind himself. He can get showy when he wants to, though it’s usually more for the other person than it is for himself. He does play it up for Jack, who seems to enjoy watching him, eyes lusty and hazy, as Eric squirm and moans preparing himself. Eric holds onto Jack’s shoulder with one hand, licking his lips. Jack holds onto Eric’s hip and uses his free hand to stroke his cock slowly, eyes mostly focused on Eric’s dick but glancing up at his face every once in a while.

Once Eric has worked in two fingers and can easily manage a third, he lifts his hand from Jack’s shoulder to pick up a condom and holds it out to Jack, who takes it and rolls it into his cock without a word. Eric slips his fingers out and brushes them against his thigh, feeling Jack’s hand cup his upper thigh to bring him closer. Jack grabs another packet of lube to coat himself with, for good measure. Eric replaces his hand on Jack’s shoulder, moving forward and lifting his hips a little higher so Jack can line up his cock and he can slide onto him with a low whine.

“Fuck,” Jack breathes out and Eric swallows. God, Jack is thick and wonderful, but it takes him a moment to adjust. He lowers himself slowly, leaning his forehead against Jack’s.

Once Jack is in fully, Eric just stays there for a moment. He opens his eyes, not remembering when he even closed them at this point. He scratches his short nails lightly on Jack’s shoulder before taking in a deep breath and rocking his hips, listening to the low rumble of Jack’s groaning mix pleasantly with the music still playing in the background.

Jack’s moans increase once Eric starts rolling his hips in earnest, lifting just a bit to give him more power behind his thrusts. Jack rolls his hips up, too, and he slides a hand on Eric’s cock. Eric moans and pushes his hips a little harder, biting his lip between little pants.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Jack starts kissing Eric’s neck again, biting at the spot he’s come to realize is extra-sensitive for Eric. He kisses all the way up to his ear, his hands coming to hold Eric’s waist. “Hey,” Jack says, pulling back to look at him. “Wanna switch it up?” he asks, jerking his head toward the bed. Eric slows and nods his head, lifting his hips back up.

Eric looks at Jack with question, missing the fullness as soon as he loses it.

“On your back,” Jack says, squeezing his hip. Eric nods again and gets behind Jack on the bed, lying down. Jack turns and crawls on top of him, sliding his hands up Eric’s thighs as he pushes between his legs. He takes a hold of his cock and guides himself back inside Eric, the two of them moaning together.

“Oh, Jack,” Eric moans and Jack kisses him once before he starts to roll his hips, quickly picking up speed and force. A hint of desperation creeps into the action as time goes on, both of them nearing their edge and wanting to just get off. Jack palms Eric, wanting him to finish first, thrusting his hips and kissing Eric’s neck until he’s panting and clutching at Jack’s back, coming between them. Jack slides his hand to Eric’s hip, fucking into him hard until he comes with a groan.

Jack slides out of Eric and pulls of the condom, then ties it and tosses it. Eric’s not quite ready to move, so he just lies with one arm covering his face, catching his breath. Jack pads around the room, sluggish as well, and ends up coming back with some sort of moist towelette that he uses to wipe Eric’s chest of the cum.

The music’s still playing in the background, something by Christina Aguilera. Jack tosses the towelette in the garbage and presses the pause on Eric’s phone before going to the wardrobe and grabbing a pair of pyjama pants. He can shower in the morning.

 While Jack puts on his pants, Eric finally sits up and crawls to the edge of the bed, finding his boxers and pulling them on.

“Are you leaving?” Jack asks, voice quiet. Eric looks up at him.

“I don’t have to, yet,” Eric says, pushing himself further back on the bed. Jack goes to the other side and opens his arms a little. Eric smiles and lies with him, in his arms but not too close.

Gradually, they shift so it’s more like Jack is in Eric’s arms, Eric playing lightly with Eric’s hair.

“You know when we saw Kent Parson today?” Jack asks, voice a little scratchy.

“Yes?” Eric asks.

“He was saying something incredibly vague, you recall?”

“I remember, yeah,” Eric looks down at Jack, one brow raised.

“I… He was referring to the fact that I, well, I’m planning on coming out. Y’know, publically. As bisexual.”

“Oh, really?” Eric’s eyes widen and he shifts a bit to look at Jack better. “That’s great, Jack.”

“Yeah,” Jack sighs. “It’s a long time coming. I... I finally came out to the Falcs this year, and I had a lot of support from them. It helped me, being out to more than just a few people. I know there will be backlash, but I think it will be worth it for both myself and for fans who struggle.”

Eric nods his head slowly, “I’m proud of you. Even thinking about it and planning it is a huge step, y’know? It took me so long to come out to my parents, even after I was out at college for two years.”

“I’ve been out to my parents for a long time, but they were the only ones who knew for most of that time,” Jack says quietly. “How, uh, how’d your parents react?” he asks, eyes meeting Eric’s.

“Mama was pretty good about it,” Eric smiles. “Coach, er, my dad, he was a ‘little uncomfortable with the idea’ but he’s mostly come ‘round now.”

“That’s good, at least,” Jack says.

“Mhmm, it definitely could have been worse,” Eric says softly and Jack cuddles into him more.

“I just wanted to tell you,” Jack says, “about my plan. I mean… I don’t expect it to have much bearing on you or your life. At most, people _might_ notice the fact we were here at the same time and hung around with each other. But, since I’m planning on waiting until after the hockey season is over, the Olympics will be old news by then.”

“Mmkay, honey,” Eric says, fingers carding through Jack’s hair again. “You’ll have to let me know before you do it, so I can watch the news. I’ll tape-record it and everything.”

Jack laughs a little bit. “I will, if you want.”

“Definitely,” Eric murmurs, his eyes getting heavier. The two of them shift so they’re more side by side, and Eric mumbles something about having to leave soon. Jack keeps his arm around Eric’s waist, though, and soon enough the two of them drift off to sleep.

 


	7. Chapter 7

When morning arrives, Jack is the first to awaken. He slips out of bed and stretches, looking at the digital display of time on his iPhone docking station. It's a little after eight, later than his usual, but he doesn't play again until the afternoon so he takes a deep breath and reminds himself he has plenty time to spare. Jack even smiles softly as his gaze lands on Eric's sleeping form. He looks peaceful, quiet, and even smaller than usual.

Jack startles when he hears music start to play from Eric's phone, a song he vaguely recognizes but can't name. Jack figures it must be an alarm, so he just turns around and starts to change out of his pants, assuming Eric will wake up to it. Maybe they can go grab coffee together.

Halfway through the song and the lyrics Jack's been catching are mostly " _gimme that can't sleep love, I want that caaan't sleep love_." Or something. Maybe that’s the name of it? Can’t Sleep Love? Jack can’t be sure; he doesn’t know a ton of recent music. He looks over and chuckles a little when he finds Eric still entirely asleep. When the song ends, another one starts, and Jack thinks he should probably wake Eric up if he's sleeping through his alarms.

Jack walks softly over to the bed, sitting on the edge and leaning over Eric. He puts a hand on Eric's shoulder, planning to give him a gentle shake. Instead, the idea to kiss him crosses Jack's mind and he can't resist the urge. He hasn't kissed anybody awake in years, probably even a decade by now. He’s 28, so it’s been ten years since he was 18, after all. He leans over Eric and gently presses a kiss to his lips. He does it three times before he feels Eric start to stir. Once he does, Jack pulls back to see Eric looking up at him with a dazed smile on his face.

"Hey," Eric greets softly, placing his hands on Jack's neck.

"Good morning," Jack smiles back at him as Eric pulls him forward to kiss him one more time.

When Eric lets go he shuts his eyes again, humming along to the soft Beyoncé lyrics playing from his phone. He opens his eyes back up, turning his head and making a grab phone his phone to shut his "Wake Me Up (before you go go) playlist” off.

"Shit," he says softly when his eyes land on the time. Jack's moved back by now, so he isn't crowding Eric, but he regards him with a confused expression.

"Fuck," Eric says a little louder. "Dammit, I gotta go," he says, sitting up. Jack stands up and Eric kicks his legs over the edge of the bed, walking to the front of the bed to pick up his jeans. "I have work in a half hour and I have to get to the break rooms on the other side of the complex."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I would have woken you up ten minutes ago, had I known," Jack walks over and picks up Eric's jacket to put it on the bed, before he goes over to his wardrobe to grab a t-shirt to put on.

"It's not your fault. I must have turned off my first alarm or something, this is the late one," Eric is doing his best to hop into his jeans. Jack turns back to him and glances around. "Fuck, I'm gonna be late," Eric whines quietly.

"I'm sorry," Jack says again.

"It's okay, honey," he says, distracted. Eric's lifting the covers of the bed and looking around. "I just didn't expect to sleep here. Ugh, I can't find my shirt," he groans.

Jack looks around for a second, but it's probably not worth it to conduct a full search. "Here," he says, "just take one of mine."

Eric turns and looks at the proffered shirt. It's probably a better decision to take it and get out of there rather than waste another five minutes wildly searching. He takes the shirt and pulls it over his head. It's a bit too big, but not as big as he would have expected. He glances down at himself to see the design on the red t-shirt is half a maple leaf, outlined in black and white with "team canada" printed on the other side.

"I'm gonna get my ass chirped clean off, you know," Eric says, but he turns and grabs his jacket to haul that on.

"I could find a different one, but that's probably the closest to a good fit you're gonna get. It's a little tight on me."

"Nah, it's fine. Thank you," Eric chuckles as he walks back up to Jack again. "Now I really gotta run. I'll see you later?"

Jack puts his hands on Eric's hips, "See you," he says. "It looks good on you," he comments a second later, looking Eric up and down.

"Thanks," Eric repeats, lifting himself up to kiss Jack once on the lips. As he pulls away Jack follows him for one more and Eric laughs as he kisses him again and again.

"I gotta go," Eric chuckles, patting Jack's shoulder. Jack nods and let’s go of Eric's hips, watching as Eric pulls on his socks and boots. Eric absolutely hates the fact that half of his outfit is yesterday's clothes, but he can't help that now. He pulls his lanyard out of his jacket pocket and hangs it around his neck.

Jack walks over to see him out of the door and Eric waggles his fingers goodbye at him. “Bye,” Jack calls to him and Eric grins, walking fast down the hall. Jack shuts his door and turns around. When he thinks about it, he’s surprised Eric stayed the night. They’ve become fast friends, as well as fuck buddies, but Jack’s starting to wonder if there’s the potential for more? He likes Eric a lot, he was initially drawn to him in the first place because he’s so himself. Jack appreciates people who are sincere and genuine, the best example being Shitty and his dedication to being exactly himself at all times. Maybe it’s because he’s hoping the genuineness of the people he surrounds himself with will help encourage him to be that true to himself, too.

Either way, Jack tries not to think about it too much, but as his thoughts drift to Eric’s sleepy smile and the fact that his room feels a lot emptier without Eric’s sunny presence, it’s hard to avoid. And, really, it doesn’t take long for his brain to produce the fact that Eric lives in _Samwell_ and that’s only about forty minutes away from Jack’s place in Providence. It’s not as if it would be impossible for them to see each other again.

Jack shakes his head. He has a game to focus on, and he hasn’t even gone for a run to get his muscles into gear yet this morning. He runs to the bathroom to take a quick shower before getting redressed and going to get something protein-rich to eat.

He spends most of his day prepping, mentally and physically, for the game later on. He does take a little time slot a couple hours before the game to hang out with Shitty, and ends up having Eric join them in the break room they’re hanging out in. Mimi is with Eric as well, and the four of them end up sitting on two couches in the back.

"My phone won't shut up," Mimi groans a bit. "We never should have checked those apps."

"Do you actually regret it?" Eric asks her, a bit of doubt seeping into his voice. 

"Psh. No. So many hot people," Mimi sighs. 

"Uh, what?" Shitty asks. Eric and Mimi share a little glance and Eric just pulls out his phone. 

“Well, Mimi and I finally got around to checking Tinder, Her, and Grindr, today,” Eric says, smiling just a bit.

“Tinder?” Jack asks and Shitty rolls his eyes. “Isn’t that some… hook up app on cell phones or something?”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Eric says. “Let me tell you, there are _so many_ guys on Grindr right now. And I’ve got like ten new matches on Tinder,” Eric says with a laugh in his voice, leaning forward to show Jack and Shitty some of the profiles. He scrolls through the likes, many of them athletes who are undoubtedly there for the games.

“Matches?” Jack asks, “Like, it matched you up based on interests or something?”

“Oh, no. On Tinder it’s like... I view his profile, I swipe right or like it, and if he likes me back we’ve matched. It’s mostly just based on appearances.” 

“Oh,” Jack says. “I’ve never used one of these.”

“I’ve had a couple dates from Grindr. Nothing much ever came from them,” Eric confesses. “Nowadays I really just look at it because I’m nosy, I don't meet up with people much." 

“Mh,” Jack says. He’s only sort of following what Eric is doing right now, too busy wondering if Eric is really planning to hook up with other guys. It doesn’t sound like it, and he knows their relationship is nowhere near serious, but it worries Jack. Even worse, he’s annoyed at the fact that he’s so concerned, because he has no damn right to be. Eric is single and can do whatever he wants.

Shitty is being much more responsive, though, leaning over Jack to see what’s on Eric’s screen. “Oh, fuck, man, you matched with that bobsledder from Germany? He is hot!”

“I know!!” Eric says, eyes wide. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe so many guys have even swiped right on me, like, dang.”

“It’s not that surprising,” Jack says, a little blunt. Eric looks at him, blushing just a bit.

“Yeah, man,” Shitty says, “you’re a total hunk.”

“It’s true,” Mimi offers from her spot with a small smile. “Any dude would be lucky to bone you.”

Shitty laughs, “Truth.”

“Fuck off, y’all,” Eric shakes his head and looks down. Jack pats his shoulder twice, licking his lips. They’re right, though. He’s lucky Eric’s been choosing to spend so much time with him as it is, really. He’s such a nice guy, and he could definitely have his pick of the gay, bi, or pan men here.

“Let’s see who else is around,” Shitty says, egging him on. “I don’t have any of these bullshit apps, but they are pretty fun for a laugh.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s just a superficial confidence boost. Or, y’know, when nobody matches with you it’s a superficial blow to the ego. Whatever.” Eric navigates from the matches back to the people nearby. The first is a guy who looks a little older, and is holding up a fish in his profile picture. Eric sticks out his tongue and swipes left. Mimi leans her cheek on Eric’s shoulder so she can see the next guy, a topless photo. He’s from Sweden, and Eric swipes right without much of a thought. The next is another athlete, probably, judging by his gym selfie. Eric swipes right again, making a small noise of appreciation.

“So many beautiful men,” Shitty says, voice in awe.

“I know,” Eric sighs.

“Are you gonna send any of them messages?” Mimi asks, and Eric’s cheeks go a little red.

“What? God no,” Eric shakes his head. He hovers over the next guy’s photo. He’s got nice arms, but his face isn’t all that pretty. Eric hums, and swipes left.

“Dude, why swipe left? He was kinda hot,” Shitty says.

“Wasn’t pretty enough,” Eric says.

“But he was a ski jumper, Bitty.”

“Doesn’t make him good-looking.”

“He could have a great personality,” Shitty says and Eric laughs.

“Whatever! If a guy isn’t hot, I’m not swiping right. Being an athlete and having a nice personality are impressive, but this is Tinder. And, hey, not everyone can have the whole package,” Eric’s eyes glint and he glances at Jack, “unlike some men.”

“You can say that again,” Shitty says, winking at Jack.

“What? I think I missed that,” Jack looks between them and Mimi giggles.

“I think they mean to say you’re all three. Hot, athletic, with a good personality.”

“Oh. You like my personality?” Jack asks, looking at Eric, who claps his hand over his mouth to cover his laugh.

“Oh my Lord, Jack. I can’t even tell if that was supposed to be a joke so I’ll just say yes, of course I like your personality,” Eric shakes his head and looks back down at his phone, swiping left on the next guy. Then, he gasps. “Oh my god, is that Kent Parson?”

Jack looks back at the screen, eyes going a bit wide. “Yeah, that’s definitely Kent Parson.”

“Oh my god,” Eric repeats. “What do I do? Do I swipe right or left on Kent Parson?”

“Do you think he’s hot? Isn’t that the criteria here?” Shitty asks.

“Hmm, yeah, generally. Fuck it, I’m swiping right on Kent Parson,” Eric says, doing just that. His eyes go comically wide when the ‘It’s a match!’ notification comes up. “Holy shit,” Eric says, clapping his hand over his mouth.

“Bits, Kent Parson swiped right on you.” Shitty leans over Jack to punch Eric in the arm as Eric laughs under his breath.

“I know. Holy shit!” he repeats.

“Does that… mean anything?” Jack asks, and Eric looks at him.

“Well, not really. I could message him, but there’s no way in hell I-“ Eric’s eyes go comically wide as he looks down at his phone again to see that Kent Parson just messaged him. “Is anybody else seeing this or am I just gone?”

“Kent Parson just messaged you, bro,” Shitty says. “And that ‘hey’s got two ‘y’s.”

Eric stares at the phone as another message pops up. Together, the conversation consists of:

Kent: Heyy  
Kent: Ur that guy who was with Zimms yesterday, right?’

Eric responds by saying ‘Yeah that’s me!’

Kent: Knew I recognized that cute face from somewhere ;)

“Oh my god, how do I respond to that?” Eric asks. “Guys, what the hell? I can’t believe I’m sitting next to Jack Zimmermann _and_ talking to Kent Parson on Tinder, this is, like, too surreal for me. I’m not even that into the NHL.”

“You’re turning into a fucking Puck Bunny,” Mimi tells him with a laugh.

Shitty cackles and Jack just runs a hand through his hair. He and Kent are on okay terms, yeah, but things are probably always going to be a bit weird between them. He doesn’t really like the fact that Kent is messaging the guy he’s sleeping with, but Kent probably doesn’t know that, there’s no way he would, but Jack still doesn’t _like_ it.

“Am _not_ ,” Eric counters. He bites his lip, thinking, then starts to type out ‘Haha, thanks. Youre not so bad yourself :P’ he shuts his eyes and hits send.

Kent: Awh, shucks.  
Kent: So how did you even meet Zimms??

Eric tilts his head to the side and looks at Jack. Jack looks at him, then leans over to read the message and shrugs.

‘Same way I met you, initially. Working here.’

Kent: I seeee. haven’t been to any of the parties here, eh?

Eric pauses at the message, again. “Literally everything he says is throwing me a loop. Normally I’m not this dumbfounded trying to talk to guys on Tinder, Jesus.”

“Do you normally chat up famous guys?” Mimi asks and Eric just pulls a face at her.

‘Nope, not yet,’ Eric types out. ‘What makes you say that?’

Kent: Haven’t seen you at any of the ones ive been at ;)  
Kent: You should come to one

Eric taps his finger on the space key a few times, shaking his head. He looks at Shitty and Mimi, who both shrug at him. ‘Is that an invitation?’

Kent: Hahah sure, yeah

‘I’ll have to think about it :P’ Eric locks his phone, shaking his head.

“What am I even doing? Does this count as flirting?”

“Definitely. You gonna go? I’d love to hit up a party here,” Shitty says.

“Uh, I dunno. I don’t really wanna just… show up to one, especially if the only person I recognize is Kent Parson.”

“I’ll probably go to one of the parties, after the last hockey game,” Jack says. “If you wanna wait,” he shrugs a bit and Eric nods. Shitty’s face lights up like a Christmas tree.

“You mean it?” Shitty asks, putting his arms around Jack’s shoulder.

“It’ll be a good way to celebrate the win,” Jack says, head a little higher and Shitty laughs.

“Good. Good plan,” Shitty squeezes Jack in his hug one last time before letting go. “And, seriously, Bitty, by the sounds of that you could end up hooking up with Kent fuckin’ Parson. That would wild, huh?”

Eric’s face goes red once again, “I am _not_ gonna hook up with Kent Parson.”

“Why the hell not? Bitty,” Mimi says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s, like, practically wrong for you to _not_ hook up with Kent Parson. He’s an Olympian, he’s young, he’s hot, and he’s flirting with you.”

“I hate y’all,” Eric mutters, putting his hands over his face, “except Jack because he ain’t trying to convince me to sleep with anybody.”

“Thank you?” Jack asks and the other three chortle.

“Anyway, I don’t want to sleep with Kent Parson, yeah, he’s hot, and he’s freaking amazing at hockey, but I just.. I dunno. Doesn’t he have a rep for sleeping with, like, a lot of people?”

“Are you shaming somebody for their sexual choices?” Shitty asks.

“Not cool,” Mimi adds in and Shitty holds his hand out for a fist-bump. She delivers one.

“That’s not how I meant that. It’s more, like, a concern for my own, y’know, safety. Like, yeah, he’s likely smart about it and keeps himself protected but you never really know with that sort of thing, either.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s pretty fair,” Shitty admits.

“At the same time, he’s probably wicked amazing in bed if he has that much experience,” Mimi points out, leaning back with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Well why don’t _you_ sleep with him, then?” Eric asks and Mimi grins at him.

“Think I have a chance?”

“Probably,” Jack interjects. “I also don’t mean to shame but as far as I know his reputation is pretty… fact-based.” Jack would know.

Mimi nods her head slowly, “Nice. Nice. Well, I’ll do my damn best the rest of this trip to fuck Kent Parson.”

“Great plan,” Shitty says, as his phone buzzes. “Oh, hey! Lards wants to Skype tomorrow morning our time, think you can swing a hello, Jack?”

“Of course. Tell her I miss her,” Jack says and Shitty snorts.

“Done,” Shitty pauses a beat, “she says she knows. And,” Shitty waits again, “she misses you too.”

“Awh,” Jack says. “Oh. Tell her I wish she could be here,” he says.

“On it,” Shitty says.

Eric and Mimi look at each other and shrug a bit. Obviously another friend of Jack and Shitty’s. Eric checks his Tinder, seeing Kent messaged him saying he hopes Eric will show up. Eric closes out of the app and checks Grindr instead, just for shits.

“I should probably get going,” Jack says, after another moment.

“Alrighty,” Eric says.

“Will you guys be at the game?” Jack asks and Shitty just gives him a hard stare, incredulous he’s even being asked a question like that.

“Don’t worry,” Eric says. “I’ll be there, screaming out your name,” he pauses before Shitty lets out a snort. Eric’s eyes go wide for the millionth time that day. “Oh my god, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I am so sorry.”

Jack blushes a little bit, “It’s okay. I-I know what you meant.”

“Oh god, what is wrong with me?” Eric asks, covering his eyes and laughing.

“Maybe you’re just in a flirtatious mood from all the hookup apps,” Shitty suggests. It sounds plausible.

“Jack is pretty hot,” Mimi says, “maybe you’re legit trying to put the moves on. Oh my fuck, is that why you won’t sleep with Kent Parson, you’re holding out for Jack?” Mimi nudges Eric’s shoulder and Eric’s face is blood red.

“You shut the hell up,” he says, covering his face. “You could at _least_ wait for the boy to leave before embarrassing the shit outta me. Fuck you, Lonsdale.”

“It’s okay,” Jack says, putting his hand on Eric’s shoulder. “All I’m concerned about is giving you a real reason to scream my name. I’m gonna head out.”

“Et tu, Jack?”

“When in Rome,” Jack smirks at him, standing up. “See you after the game.”

“Yeah, if you’re lucky,” Eric quips, crossing his arms over his chest tightly. Jack ruffles his hair.

“I like your shirt, by the way,” Jack tells him with a wink. “I’ll text you later, Shits. It was fun hanging out, Mimi.”

“Good luck,” Mimi says, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

As soon as Jack walks out of the room, Eric pulls out his phone to Facebook message him ‘Youre never getting it back.’ Then he adds ‘The shirt.’ after that. He doesn’t hear it, but Jack laughs. Jack just messages back ‘wouldn’t ask for it back. I’ll find something of yours to steal before the games are over.’

 Meanwhile, Shitty looks at the shirt in question, “Bits, is that shirt even yours?”

“What, just because I’m from America I can’t have a t-shirt from Canada?” Eric says, pulling his jacket over the front of the shirt a bit more. Shitty just narrows his eyes a bit.

“No, that’s not it.” He leans back in his seat and pulls out his phone, frigging around with it a bit before he sends Eric a Facebook friend request and a message saying ‘It just looks suspiciously like a shirt Jack owns and it’s also kinda loose on you yknow brah?’

Eric sees the message pop up and he just sends Shitty an emoji based message with a cup of coffee and eyes looking to the side.

Shitty chuckles a bit. “Who wants to go get a snack before the game.”

“Me,” says Mimi, raising her hand.

“Sure,” Eric says, and the three of them get up and go.

After that, they all attend the game, where they cheer for Canada and for Jack. Joyously, Canada wins.

The time after the game is a lot like it had been the night prior, but with Jack being in a much better mood. Eric ends up in Jack’s room yet again, making out with him on the bed.

Jack has his hands on Eric’s hips, with Eric seated in his lap like the last night. He pulls Eric’s hips forward, making him let out a little squeak. Jack chuckles and Eric brushes his nose against Jack’s, sighing contentedly.

“Hey,” Jack says, slowly. He’s running his hands up and down the span of Eric’s back over the t-shirt he’s still wearing, looking up into Eric’s pretty eyes.

“Hm?” Eric asks, fingers clasped behind Jack’s neck.

“What was that song on your phone this morning? Not the Can’t Sleep one, but the other one.. Something about Halos?”

Eric blinks slowly at him. “Are you referring to Halo, by Beyoncé?”

“Probably?” Jack says.

“Oh lord, I’ve been sleeping with a boy who doesn’t know Beyoncé.”

“I don’t _not_ know Beyoncé. I know who she is,” Jack insists. “I just don’t listen to much pop music.” Eric shakes his head.

“This is my life, these are my choices,” he tsks. “Name three songs by her, Jack.”

“Uh, okay,” Jack says, eyes meeting Eric’s hot gaze. “Um. Halo…”

“That so does not count and you know it.”

“Fair,” Jack mutters. “Crazy in Love,” he says, then bites his lip. “Single… Ladies…?”

“Mhmmm,” Eric says, lips a tight line. “Another one?”

“That one where she’s angry,” Jack winces as Eric pinches the bridge of his nose. “Ringing Alarms?”

“That’s, like, half a point I guess,” Eric scoffs. “It’s Ring the Alarm.”

“I also know she did a song with Lady Gaga. Cell phone?”

“Ssshh if you don’t quit I won’t be able to kiss you anymore,” Eric says and Jack frowns at him.

“Is it that big of a deal?”

Eric purses his lips, “Beyoncé is, in fact, a huge deal to me. I love her with every fibre of my being and she is an absolute queen.”

“Hah, okay,” Jack says, brows together. He doesn’t really get it, but hey, he’d be willing to try to listen to more Beyoncé if it makes Eric happy. Not that he should be worrying about that. “Well, I mean, I was only asking you because I _liked_ the song.”

“Fair,” Eric says, voice still a bit prissy. “That gets you back in the game,” he grins.

“Good,” Jack says, pressing his hand to the small of Eric’s back again. Eric laughs a little.

“It’s kinda nice that you take me so seriously,” he murmurs. Their eyes meet again.

“I take most things that are important to me seriously,” Jack tells him. “I mean, I know we just met, but I do like you a lot.”

Eric smiles softly, “I like you, too.” He leans in to kiss Jack again as his phone buzzes on the bedside table. He reaches for it.

“Are you about to tweet something?” Jack asks. He’s noticed, lately, that Eric likes to tweet a lot when they’re just hanging around break rooms and that.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna tell the whole world that I’m sitting in Jack Zimmermann’s lap here at the Olympics,” Eric rolls his eyes. “No, it was a Tinder notification. I got a couple other messages,” Eric grins widely at him and Jack’s shoulders tense.

Eric raises a brow at Jack’s pokerface for a second, “You know I meant it when I said I’m not going to message anybody else, right?”

Jack blinks, sliding his hand to Eric’s thigh. “I believe you. But, I mean, it’s not like you _can’t_ , you know that, right? I have no claim over you, Eric.”

“I know that,” Eric says quietly. “Still, I’ve been having a ton of fun with you. I’m actually not a huge fan of hooking up with people the first time I meet them or anything like that. We met a few times before we started fucking, which I prefer, and now that we’ve been sleeping with each other for a few days I don’t really see why I would just jump ship and try to get with someone else.”

Eric takes a breath, then continues. “I mean, I know we’re not really serious here, either. Again, it’s been a few days that we’ve been hooking up and we’ve both got our own respective lives to go back to after this. But, I dunno, it’s just not my style to be sleeping around. Well, not my current style,” Eric rolls his eyes a bit at the end.

“Okay,” Jack says. It’s awful how relieved he is to hear that, but he’s glad Eric doesn’t want to sleep with anybody else, either.

“I mean, if you wanted to hook up with somebody else I’d also be okay with that, though,” Eric says, hands on Jack’s chest.

“I wouldn’t,” Jack tells him. “I’m not interested in that,” he says, watching Eric nod. The two of them snuggle up together, kissing and chatting for a little while. Around ten o’clock, Jack yawns and starts looking at the clock more frequently, so Eric kisses him a couple more times before getting up to go.

As Eric shuts Jack’s door behind him, he realizes this is the first evening alone he’s spent with Jack that didn’t end up the two of them having sex. It’s strange, but it’s not a bad thing.


	8. Chapter 8

They’re past the halfway mark of the Olympics and Eric can hardly believe the amount of things that have happened to him since he arrived here. He still hangs out with Jack Zimmermann on the daily, and Jack’s friend Shitty, frequently with Mimi tagging along and occasionally Carter as well. He’s talked to plenty more Olympians, including the German bobsledder he totally has the hots for.

And while Eric is still spending quite a bit of time with Jack, their interactions are usually shorter now that the finals for hockey are drawing closer. Jack is more tense than he’d been in those first few days, which is totally understandable for a man in his position. Eric has sort of made friends with some of the other athletes he sees on a frequent basis, too, though none as much as Jack.

Eric ends up meeting Jack’s parents, which is kind of weird but also very exciting. His own mother might be more excited than he was, she nearly screams when he tells her over skype. Eric likes Jack’s parents, they seem to be nice folks, which makes sense given that Jack is polite and kind himself.

One night Eric goes out on the town drinking with Shitty and Mimi, which, not counting the sex he’s been having with Jack, is one of the best nights of his life. Shitty _knows_ how to party, and Mimi is always fun to go out with (she’s a little bit of a lightweight, but she’s built a tolerance and she’s practiced enough to know her limits). Jack had given them nothing but a dry laugh when they asked him if he wanted to tag along, but it was tons of fun anyway.

Of course, the morning after Eric wakes up with a killer hangover as a reminder that, maybe, breaking a month-long no drinking streak by getting absolutely fucking wasted and staying out all night might not be the best idea. Still, he makes it to Jack’s game in the afternoon and is immensely thankful that Canada’s game against the Sates is tomorrow, not today. They’re getting frighteningly close to the end of hockey, and while the games last a few more days after that, the majority of the trip is behind them.

And when that Canada vs United States game rolls around, Eric is, as predicted by Jack, just a little bit heartbroken. He and his little group of Americans are all somewhat disappointed when Canada beats them.

Jack is absolutely euphoric, though, so Shitty gets over the loss for America pretty soon and Eric isn’t too far behind him. Jack tells them, after the game, that the gold is close. Only a few more games stand between his country and the win, and he’s eager to get there.

Really, Eric can’t be all that sour about his country, anyway. The United States walks away with Bronze, and before they know it, Canada is facing off against Russia for gold.

Eric asks Jack, before the game, “How’s it feel to be playing against Tater for the gold?”

Jack pauses for a moment to consider, “Better than it would feel to be playing against Parson.”

Eric nods slowly to his response. As well, before Jack disappears to get ready for the game, he pulls Eric into a relatively private nook on the bottom floor of the rink just to kiss him “for good luck”. Eric’s heart flutters with the sheer magnitude of the fact that Jack, so serious about his game, wants to kiss him before his chance at gold. As well, it’s the first time they’ve kissed outside Jack’s room in the village.

Eric finds himself in the stands the day Jack plays for gold. He’s in the Team Canada t-shirt he stole from Jack (well, technically, Jack did give it to him), and he’s sitting with Bob and Alicia Zimmermann, as well as Shitty, Mimi, and some other people who know Bob. All are extremely decked out in Team Canada swag.

The air is crackling with electricity and the hype of the fans, the anticipation that is all boiling down to these next moments. The intensity is high long before the puck even hits the ice, but when it does, the excitement starts to truly bubble over. People are screaming, cheering, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some tears either. The first period sees Russia take a lead and it leaves Eric clutching at his chest, Shitty sitting bent forward with his hands together and Bob and Alicia leading each other through calming exercises.

The second period, Canada ties it up, meeting every lead Russia tries to get on them, but they still don’t pull ahead. The mood of the Canadian fans has improved, but the air is still nervous around them. Eric holds Jack’s t-shirt over his face for a second as Shitty downs his beer.

“Ever thought you’d end up so broken up wanting Canada to win gold?” Bob asks him once Eric hauls the shirt back into a normal position. He’s in public and he should probably care, it’s possible that they’re going to have cameras on him, especially seeing as he’s sitting with a former NHL star. And, yeah, when Eric glances up at the screens it’s suddenly cut to his own face. He turns his head to Bob and tries to answer normally.

“No, can’t say I anticipated anything of this sort, really,” Eric confesses. “Not that I ever disliked Canada. I went there one with my family and it was a lovely place.”

“You’ll have to come visit sometime,” Bob says with a warm smile and crinkly eyes. Eric isn’t sure if he should point out he’s barely known Jack two weeks by now, so he isn’t sure if visiting each other’s families is really on the radar, but instead he just smiles politely.

“That would be fun,” he says, and that’s true. It would be wonderful to visit Quebec.

Their friendly chatting stops when the next period begins. The two teams stay neck and neck for about half of the period, leaving the fans with clenched fists and bated breath. Canada ends up pulling ahead by one goal, and the sound from the fans is deafening. At one point, Eric’s not even sure if he’s screaming along or not, because his voice is so lost in the crowd. It’s not over, yet, though, so everyone’s on the edge of their seats watching the clock wind down.

Jack ends up scoring one more goal for Canada with three minutes left, and the fans go _wild_ once more. Russia scores again with about a minute and twenty seconds left, but Canada’s still one point ahead, and they don’t manage to get in any more after that.

Canada wins. Eric ends up getting pulled into hugs by both Shitty and Bob Zimmermann, and usually he wouldn’t be a huge fan of sudden physical contact with no warning, he can’t be too upset about it because he’s just so damn happy. He accepts a calmer hug from Alicia after the boys let go of him, too, before they’re all swept off to the break room near the dressing rooms to wait for Jack.

The electricity in the air is still full force, but it’s got a tinge of success to it, it’s brighter and happier than the anticipation from earlier. It’s a good feeling, to be a part of that. When Eric sees Jack, he’s not sure he’s ever encountered a more beautiful sight in his life.

Jack’s got his gear off but he’s wearing his Team Canada jersey. He’s got people crowding him, but he doesn’t appear uncomfortable with it, which is unexpected. He’s speaking in French to a reporter to get his first comments out there, but he makes it over to Eric and Shitty after stopping to hug his parents.

Jack gives Shitty a hug, one arm tight around him and the other clapping his back. Shitty mimics the action.

Jack is slow to let go, his eyes landing on Eric as he does. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey,” Eric greets him, opening his arms once Jack fully let’s go of Shitty. Jack wraps his arms around Eric’s waist and pulls him in tight. Eric wraps both his arms around Jack’s shoulders, revelling in the embrace. The electricity between them is nothing compared to the general atmosphere of the room, but Eric is pretty sure the two types of energy are only serving to heighten each other, at least for him. He pulls back from Jack with a little red on his cheeks, running a hand through his hair with a little “heh”.

“Wow, geeze, why does he get a hug that intimate but you had to pat my fucking back, bro?” Shitty asks.

“I’m not sleeping with you, Shits,” Jack answers with a roll of eyes his. Eric’s eyes go wide.

“W-wait, he, uh, he knows about that?”

“Not explicit details,” Jack assures him, “but, yes, I told him. Is that a problem?” Jack’s eyes pour into his, full of concern. He touches Eric’s forearm.

“No, it’s fine, I just.. I wasn’t entirely sure. I had a feeling he might have known but,” Eric smiles at Jack reassuringly. “It’s okay.”

“Okay. Good,” Jack breathes. He looks around the room, full of teammates, family, friends, as well as a few news reporters. He feels good, he feels amazing. Nothing can bring him down from the moment.

This is true, even when Kent Parson comes up with a wide grin on his face. “Zimms, man. You fucking did it.”

“I did,” Jack says, accepting the hug Kent offers him. A moment after they let go, though, Jack slings his arm around Eric’s shoulders. “You didn’t do too bad yourself, though.”

“Bronze ain’t too shabby, huh?” Kent says, grin still plastered on his face. “I’m pretty fucking happy with it. I really can’t complain. If it couldn’t be me, for the gold, I’m glad it was you.”

“Good to hear,” Jack says.

“Plus, there’s always the cup.”

“’Course.”

Kent chuckles and Jack laughs along, noticing out of the corner of his eye a lady and a cameraman coming up to him.

“Mr. Zimmermann, could we have a word?” she asks, and Jack moves to put his arm around Shitty as well, since he’s near his other side. Kent moves out of the way to stand on Shitty’s other side, a polite mask on his face for the camera.

“Sure,” Jack says. “Right here okay?”

“Yes, this is fine. How do you feel, winning the gold for Canada in men’s hockey?” the woman holds out a big mic to catch Jack’s reply.

“It feels amazing. Incredible. I can’t even describe it, I’m just so proud of this team, our country, and the men I played with out there today.”

“That’s great,” the lady says with a big smile. “And who do you have here celebrating with you this afternoon?” she asks, and Eric swallows. He’s been smiling since she came over, Jack’s arm weighing heavily on his shoulder.

“Well,” Jack glances down at Kent, “I trust you already know who Kent Parson is.”

The lady laughs a bit and says, “Yes.”

“This is Eric,” Jack says, looking over at him.

Eric raises his hand a little and gives a bright little “Hi!”

“And this is a guy whose nickname I can’t say on camera, so I’ll give you his last name, Knight.”

The lady laughs again, “Why hello, Eric, Mr. Knight. Would either of you mind giving a comment as fans, and friends of Mr. Zimmermann?”

“That’s fine,” Eric says, shrugging just once at the same time Shitty says “Gladly,” with a nod.

“So how did it feel to be watching all that all go down?” The lady points the mic at Eric, first.

“Oh, it was awesome. I’m so proud of Jack, and the rest of the team. I mean, as you can likely tell from my accent, I’m not from Canada, but I’m glad they won.”

“Yes, you certainly don’t sound Canadian. And are you happy with America’s standing?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with my country getting a bronze medal, it’s still incredibly impressive. It’s just more reason to celebrate, my top two teams both making it on the podium.”

“That’s just great,” the lady smiles once more. “And how about you, what are your feelings on the gold for Team Canada?” 

“To preface, I am also American, but Jack Zimmermann is my best friend and I am on top of the world. I think Canada totally deserves the gold, they worked hard, they played hard, and they did great. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

“It’s so good, to have such nice friends crossing borders to celebrate. And, yet another American, Mr. Kent Parson. How are you feeling about this?”

“I’m pretty much in the same boat,” Kent says easily. “I’m super happy America won bronze, and I’m just as happy Canada is taking home the gold. And, hey, I was just saying to Jack that this isn’t the end of it. It’s only the middle of the season in the NHL and we both still have a chance for the cup, so we’ll stop and celebrate these wins before getting right back on the grind and seeing who comes out on top next time.”

“All right,” the woman says. “Thank you so much for your comments,” she looks at the cameraman and he lowers the camera. “If I could just get your names here, the two non-NHL players,” she takes out her phone and writes down Eric Bittle and B. Knight in a note, then moves on to find some more friends and family of the players to get commentary from.

Once she walks away, Jack drops his arms from Shitty and Eric’s shoulders.

“Are you going out to the afterparty?” Kent asks, looking at Jack.

“I’m thinking about it, yeah,” Jack says.

“It’s gonna be off the hook,” Kent assures him.

“I might go. I won’t be drinking.”

“That’s okay,” Kent says. “It would be great to have you out, though.”

“I’ll probably be there,” Jack says, and then Kent Parson is moving on to go talk to some other people.

Jack mingles for another little while, partially because he feels like he should, but about ten minutes later he turns to Eric and says, “Hey, you wanna get out of here?”

Eric looks from Jack to Shitty, who is over standing with Jack’s parents and another guy on the Canadian hockey team. He bites his lip and nods, saying, “Sure. If you want.”

Jack just smiles at him and texts Shitty where he’s going rather than going over and talking to him because he has a feeling he’ll just get roped into the conversation if that happens.


	9. Chapter 9

So Eric and Jack end up back in Jack’s room once more. As soon as the door is shut behind them, Jack’s hands are on Eric’s waist, pulling him close, leaning down to kiss him. They manage to wrestle Eric out of his jacket while kissing hotly. Eric lifts himself to meet Jack as best he can, feeling Jack’s hands roam down to cup his ass and pull him closer still. Jack ends up picking Eric up, causing Eric to make a noise of surprise in the back of his throat. Jack pins him against the wall for, rocking against him eagerly. Eric wraps his legs around Jack’s waist and tugs on Jack’s hair in response. He moans again, rolling his hips as best he can in his pinned position. Jack makes out with him feverishly before sucking on his neck, leaving Eric with nothing to do but whine and moan and clutch at him.

Jack eventually lifts Eric again and walks him to the bed, letting him down as gently as he can. He runs his hands up and down Eric’s sides as he looks at him with such an intensity that Eric feels like he’s being held under a microscope. Even still, it’s not a bad, having Jack look at him like that. It leaves Eric feeling like the breath has been knocked clean out of him. It practically has, after making out like that.

He doesn’t get much of a break, though, because Jack is peeling off Eric’s t-shirt and throwing it onto the floor like he’s done many times now since they’ve met. Jack has his hands on Eric’s bare chest, leaning down to kiss him again. There is less tongue before, but it’s no less hot, no less intense.

Jack pulls back from the kiss slowly, but doesn’t go far. He trails his lips over to Eric’s ear and whispers, throatily, “I wanna fuck you.”

“Oh, yes, please,” Eric says. The only clothing that’s been removed so far between them has been Eric’s jacket and shirt, but Eric’s so ready to get on with things he can hardly stand it. He’s got fire in his veins and he wants Jack. He wants him badly, and he wants him now.

Jack kisses down Eric’s chest, not unlike what he’s done every other time, but the air is different this time. Jack’s always focused, but previously there were hints of desperation in his actions. He’d been using the sex as a way to stop thinking about hockey. Now, he has no hockey to think about, so sex is at the forefront of his mind. Everything is just Eric, and what Jack wants to do to him.

As every other time, Jack undoes the buttons on Eric’s pants and starts to pull them off, still kissing and sucking at Eric’s collar and his neck. Eric’s running his hands up Jack’s arms, across his shoulders and up to his hair. Once Jack leans back a bit, Eric moves his hands down to try and pull Jack’s shirt off, not liking the fact that Jack is still fully clothed and he’s practically naked.

They don’t take long doing away with the rest of their clothing. Jack takes a moment to grab some condoms and lube, tossing a handful on the bed beside them before he ducks down to kiss Eric once more.

Eric grips Jack’s hair again, moaning into his mouth as he feels Jack’s hand on his inner thigh, pushing his legs apart. Jack strokes his cock a couple times before he edges his fingers lower, watching for Eric’s reaction. Eric looks up, noticing Jack’s hesitation after a beat. He nods his head and Jack leans to kiss him again, touching him lightly before he reaches for a packet of lube and starts to push a finger inside of Eric. It’s the first time he’s done it himself, the previous times it was Eric. Jack likes it, though, looking down at Eric’s fluttering lashes and hearing his quiet moans. It’s even better when Jack’s the one who is really causing it.

Although Jack like to tease, he’s pretty sure Eric doesn’t know that yet because he’s always so damn eager to go fast and hard. Perhaps it’s because they’ve still only been with each other a few times, it’s still new and exciting and that energy translates to being almost hasty. This time it’s no different, and he’s soon at the point where he’s working two fingers deep inside of Eric, who is moaning louder and clutching at the bedsheets and looking oh so gorgeous. Jack wants to fuck him, badly, so he works him open as best he can before slowing down and looking at Eric expectantly.

Again, it takes Eric a moment to recognize Jack’s body language, slowly blinking open his eyes and looking up at Jack. “Everything okay?” Eric breathes and Jack nods his head.

“Do you think you’re, y’know, ready?” Jack asks him, his free hand squeezing Eric’s thigh.

“Yeah,” Eric nods back at him, shifting his hips up a bit. “Definitely.”

“Okay,” Jack says, reaching over and grabbing a condom as well as more lube. He rolls the condom on and slicks up, sliding one hand under Eric’s knee while using his other hand to guide himself in.

They’re a good fit, Jack can’t help but think, even though Eric is much smaller than he is. Despite their size difference, it’s true that they do fit well together, in more ways than one. Jack enters slowly, and waits until Eric seems comfortable before he starts to give a little rock to his hips. Eric moans and his eyes open and close a few times. He lifts a hand to Jack’s shoulder just to feel his muscles as Jack moves more.

It doesn’t take long to get a good rhythm going between them, both of their voices climbing as the power behind their thrusting increases. Jack’s starting to lose himself in the best way possible, let go and just feel the body beneath him. Eric’s much the same, clutching at Jack and moaning, calling his name like it’s all he remembers how to say. He can feel that Jack’s attention is 110% on him, even more than usual, perhaps because the games are over for Jack and he has nothing left to be concerned about at the fringes of his mind, at least at that very moment. It’s wonderful, being able to get lost in one another completely. At one point, Jack leans in to bury his face in Eric’s neck, hearing Eric’s moans ring in his ears.

Once they’re near their peaks, Jack pulls back to look at Eric, take in the beautiful sight before him. Eric opens his eyes, too, and they meet. Jack slides a hand down Eric’s chest before he wraps it around Eric’s cock, stroking him and trying to keep in time with his thrusts. He doesn’t manage it perfectly, but he does manage to have Eric coming a beat or two before he climaxes as well. It’s pretty nice to ride it out together like that.

After coming down a bit, Jack pulls out of Eric. Eric lets his arms slip from Jack’s shoulder and shuts his eyes, feeling absolutely wrecked. Jack does away with the condom and gets up, then returns to the bed with something to wipe themselves off a moment later. After that, he lies down facing Eric with his head on his bicep.

Eric eventually looks over at him, brain still a little fuzzy. Jack grins at him, soft, and Eric gives a little smile back.

“I seriously think you should win gold medals more often,” Eric tells him, shifting so he’s facing Jack a little more.

“Oh yeah?” Jack asks with a little laugh. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that, I guess.”

“That was amazing,” Eric tells him with a hum.

“Yeah?” Jack repeats, perking a brow at him.

“Yes,” Eric sighs happily. “Like, seriously, Jack, that was quite literally the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Really?” Jack says with a happy little laugh. “Glad it was gold medal worthy.” The two of them laugh together, at that. “It was the same for me,” Jack says, a little quieter. “The best I’ve ever had. I wasn’t going to say it, but I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“Mmh,” Eric smiles and the two of them meet for a kiss.

They quiet down again for a moment, but Jack is the first to break the silence (he does that more often than Eric might have predicted based on what he knows about Jack’s personality).

“Hey?” Jack says, and Eric lifts his eyes to meet Jack’s with a ‘hmmm?’. Jack licks his lips, reaching to brush Eric’s hair back. “Just, hypothetically speaking, if you could... would you go to one of my regular NHL games?”

Eric blinks at him. “Well, sure, honey. If you wanted me to.”

“I would,” Jack says, firmly. “I could, y’know, get you a ticket to a game. Not just hypothetically, either.”

“Okay,” Eric smiles a bit. “I’d go to any game you want me at, if I could make it.”

“We have a game to play not too far from Samwell, it’s a few weeks away… I can definitely get you there, as long as you’re not working or something. I’d-” Jack cuts himself off, lips pressed together.

“I can probably get the day off, with enough notice,” Eric says. “What is it, honey?”

“I just… I’d really like to, uh, see you again. After the games. We, uh, we really don’t live that far away or anything so, if you want, we could, y’know, try to meet up at some point whether it be at a hockey game or even outside of that, really,” Jack knows he’s rambling and potentially not making that much sense, but Eric’s eyes are soft and it doesn’t look like Jack’s freaking him out or anything, which is a good sign.

“I’d like that,” Eric says, quietly. “I’d like to see you again, after all of this is said and done. And, I mean,” Eric trails off, similar to Jack. Jack looks at him, waiting. Eric bites his lip.

“Eric? Bitty?” Jack furrows his brows and Eric laughs at the use of the name. Jack’s only used it a handful of times, usually mimicking Shitty.

“I just, I think we could make it work, if we wanted to. We could try, anyway,” he says quietly. “If that’s what you’re hinting at and all.”

“It is,” Jack says, and Eric licks his lips and nods. “So, you’ll come to a game? We could get dinner, afterwards. Or before, depending on the time it starts.” Eric nods again, confirming that he’d like that. The two of them move closer and get quieter, but the silence is perfectly comfortable between them.

After a while, Jack asks Eric if he wants to go to the after party with him later, and Eric enthusiastically agrees. Jack suggests they take showers and get something to eat, first, and Eric happily agrees to that, as well, with a smile and “I’d love to.” Jack can’t stop smiling back at him, relieved as he thinks about the fact that they’re going to see each other after the Games, there’s a possibility that the magic between them won’t be left here, and that’s scary, but amazing. Jack is hopeful about this.

After showering, they end up going to dinner at one of the restaurants on the premises, and are joined by Shitty, Mimi, and the Zimmermann’s.

Once they’re all grouped together again, the air is still buzzing around them. Everyone is just so satisfied with that win. All are smiling brightly, and it feels nice.

Eric is glad he’s wearing a button-down instead of a t-shirt right now, because although the place isn’t that fancy, there are cameras around and he’s heard from Shitty that their impromptu interview right after the Games is already airing in Canada.

As they look at their menus, Eric at Jack’s side, Jack starts speaking in French with his father across the table from them. Eric smiles, liking the sound even though he doesn’t understand a word of it.

“Hmmm. I think I’m going to get the chicken alfredo,” Alicia hums after a moment, and her husband looks over at her.

“Well I think we can see where our son gets his adventurous tastebuds from, eh?” he grins and laughs and she just rolls her eyes at him.

“I try new things sometimes. So what if I want to go with a classic once in a while.”

“C’est pas un problème, Mom.” Jack says, pretending to be annoyed that his father used him to chirp his mother. He adds something else in French after a second.

“Merci. I think your taste is perfect, too,” she smiles at him.

“So you all speak French?” Mimi asks. “That’s so cool.”

“Yes, we do. Although it’s Jack’s and Bob’s first language, it’s not mine,” Alicia says. “I’m originally from America, after all.”

“When did you learn?” Eric asks, and Bob says something to Jack in French yet again. Jack snickers.

“Only after I met Bob. First it was just little phrases here and there, but when I moved to Montreal and we started to talk about having a child, I took classes and everything. We both agreed it would be best to raise Jack bilingually and since we’ve lived in Montreal since he was a baby, we started with French. I’m fluent, now, even though my accent is still a bit terrible.”

“Mom, your accent is fine. No worse than mine in English,” Jack says.

“Mmmh,” Alicia says. “I like being bilingual, but I probably never would have stuck with it if not for my husband and child. Do any of you speak any other languages? Except for Shitty, I know he speaks some French as well.”

“You do?” Eric asks to Shitty and he nods.

“Yeah, brah.”

“I speak some Turkish,” Mimi says. “I’m not fluent, but I can carry on some simple conversations.”

“That’s interesting!” Alicia says, eyes wide. Eric looks just as surprised.

“Yeah, my mother’s from Turkey, actually. She and my uncles taught me some stuff when I was little.”

“That’s so cool,” Alicia smiles. “And you, Eric?” 

“Well, I can say a few basic things in Russian,” Eric says. “I’d like to learn more French. It sounds awfully pretty, but I only know a few phrases.”

“I’m sure Jack can help you,” Bob says, grinning at his son. Eric smiles at the idea.

“I’d be happy to,” Jack says, and Eric nods.

“Things are a little busy now, but we can find time later.”

“Sure,” Jack says, and then they move on to discussing what they’re going to order before the waitress comes and takes their menus. It’s a nice meal, with lots of happy chatting among.

At one point, Jack slows down, glancing over at Eric. Eric’s caught in a discussion with his mother and Mimi, as Shitty and his father are exchanging brief comments in French. Jack smiles, fondly, taking in Eric before he moves to look at the other people around him. It’s not overwhelming, but he takes note of his adoration for the people here. When he considers the day he’s been having so far, the emotion hits him and fills him to the brim. He’s been having a good time the entire time, but now in particular it becomes apparent how happy he is.

No matter what, he’ll always have this day locked away in his memories. As much as he wishes he could just stay in this moment forever, he’ll be content as long as he can remember how it feels.

At the end of their meal, it’s Jack who suggests they take a group picture here, so they’ll have a physical reminder of the evening. Everyone else is totally on board, so they ask the waitress to take it for them. Shitty laments that if they had a selfie stick they wouldn’t have to ask someone and Jack just rolls his eyes at him.

“So, are you kids heading out to the party?” Alicia asks, as Bob gets out his wallet to pay for the entire thing. Eric and Mimi start to protest, but Shitty knows better and doesn’t bother saying anything.

“Yeah, we are,” Jack says, also not bothering to comment on her referring to a group of people in which everyone is over the age of 24 as ‘kids’.

“That sounds like fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Bob says with a wink, and Shitty laughs. The group gets up and makes to leave, with the four 20-somethings going to get ready and pre-drink for the aforementioned party, while Bob and Alicia go to watch an evening event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in posting!! This was actually supposed to be the last chapter but then i was like "Well technically the Olympics doesn't end right after Canada wins gold in hockey" (even if that's one of the most important moments for all of us let's be real...) so I ended up writing a few more scenes. The next chapter is gonna be monstrous and i sort of want to split it into two but there's no good spot for a divide so we'll see what happens when i post that in the next couple days, sigh.


	10. Chapter 10

The party isn’t quite in full swing once they arrive, but it’s definitely starting to pick up. Once one person notices Jack Zimmermann is there, though, there’s a huge chorus of shouting. Suddenly Jack’s being pulled from Eric’s side and clapped on the shoulder by at least three different huge guys. Eric reaches for Mimi’s hand and the two of them give each other a little squeeze, laughing as Jack is handed a beer, looking like a doe in headlights. It’s obvious he’s no longer familiar with the party scene. It’s a sharp contrast to how comfortable he looked earlier in the day after the game. Jack looks around and Eric lifts his free hand, his heart giving a squeeze when he sees the flash of relief on Jack’s face to know that he hasn’t been abandoned. Even still, Eric isn’t about to try to push his way through all the gigantic athletes trying to get a piece of Jack, so he just hangs at the side with Mimi as Shitty strikes up a conversation with someone who he apparently knows.

When the guy Shitty is talking to introduces himself, Eric shakes his hand and realizes it’s Snowy, another of Jack’s teammates from the Falconers. Eric does vaguely recognize him. When Tater joins them, Eric accepts a hug.

“Oh, you want a drink? I get the three of you beers,” Tater says, his hand on Eric’s shoulder blade as he gestures to Mimi and Shitty. “There is no hope of me talking to Zimboni yet, people are too excited he is even here. Was that your doing, little blond guy?” Tater asks with a wink.

“Awh, nah, I don’t think so. He invited me along, but,” Eric just shrugs and Tater laughs at him.

“Okay, if you say. I will be right back,” Tater says, and goes to fetch them beer. While he’s gone, another small crowd, including another member of Team Canada, enters, and there’s even more shouting.

Once Tater returns, Eric opens the beer and starts drinking, as do the other two. Tater lets out a joyful chuckle. The three of them had a few pre-drinks and Shitty’s got a bag with some other booze for them, but they haven’t made it far enough into the party to put it in a fridge or cooler.

“That’s the shit I like to see, drink ‘er up,” someone yells as they approach the little group. The three of them look over, eyes a little wild. “Shits, sup, man,” Kent Parson yells as he pulls Shitty into a hug.

“Not too much, keeping an eye on the Golden Boy over there,” Shitty answers, nodding toward Jack. Kent looks over and laughs.

“Poor motherfucker. He looks miserable,” Kent comments. Although Jack’s smiling, his eyes do look a little strained. As soon as one person wanders away from him, another will start over to strike up a conversation.

“Should we go save him?” Shitty asks, looking at Kent, whose arm is still around his shoulder.

“Nah, in a few. Finish your drink first.” Kent takes a sip from his solo cup, then holds it up at Eric and Mimi. “Hi, Eric. And, I haven’t met you yet, but hello as well,” he says to the two of them, respectively.

“Hey Kent,” Eric greets. Kent takes his arm from Shitty and moves to give Eric a brief hug.

“I’m Mimi,” the girl greets as Kent goes to hug her, too.

“Nice to meet you,” Kent says.

“And of course, Tates, Snowy,” Kent says, giving Tater a bro hug and Snowy a fist bump.

“Hello Parson,” Tater greets and Snowy just gives him a headnod.

“All you fuckers having a good time yet?” Kent asks them, gesturing to the whole group.

“We’ve barely made it in yet. Jack got swarmed and none of us wanted to get involved in that shit but we can’t just leave him here, either,” Shitty explains, sipping his beer. Kent laughs.

“No fucking doubt,” he shakes his head. “He’s always been popular at parties for some reason.”

“Can’t imagine why Jack Zimmermann would be popular,” Mimi comments.

 “No idea,” Kent agrees with another little snicker. He downs the bottom of his drink. “All right, alla y’all finish up and we’ll stage a rescue mission. We gotta get some shots into us anyway.”

“Sounds like a fuckin’ plan,” Shitty says, tipping his beer back. Eric and Mimi still have half their cans left, but they both attempt to keep up with the group, drinking in time with Shitty. They’re not completely finished as they move with the pack to try to get to Jack. It’s not so hard with Kent and Tater leading the way, although Snow ends up distracted by somebody else and leaves before they make it to Jack.

“Yo Zimms,” Kent says, reaching out and smacking Jack on the back. Jack looks over at him, unopened beer in his hand.

“Hey Kenny,” Jack replies, then his shoulders stiffen a little. If Kent notices, he makes no indication.

“Zimboni!” Tater says, squeezing over to Jack’s other side.

“Tater,” Jack says, accepting the half hug as best he can with Kent’s arm still half around him. He shuffles back a little bit as Shitty moves closer to Tater. Eric ends up pressing up to Mimi, who is next to Kent. Kent places his other hand on the middle of Mimi’s back and she turns her head to Eric, who gives her a wicked grin.

“I gotta find somewhere to put the booze,” Shitty says, holding up his bag.

“Sure, man. We’ll do that when we get shots. You gonna do a shot with us, Zimms?” Kent asks.

“Haha. Hell no,” Jack gives him a pokerface and Kent can’t help but laugh.

“Awwh c’mon. Just one tiny shot, to celebrate your win. On y va.”

“Non, je ne-“

“Aller,” Kent says, clapping Jack on the shoulder. He lets him go as he leads the way, but Jack can’t escape because Tater is now tugging him along. Mimi and Eric follow along with Shitty as they push through the crowd of people, already a decent amount thicker than when they’d arrived.

“I’m not taking a shot,” Jack tells Kent as they reach a smaller room with a line of people pushed up against the counter. Thankfully, there’s a table that’s relatively free. Kent helps Shitty get his bag into one of the coolers at the back of the room, fishing out his own bottle of CÎROC and grabbing a handful of plastic shot glasses from the counter. He brings it over to the table and pours out the shots.

Kent hands them around, winking at both Eric and Mimi when he hands them theirs. He holds one out to Jack, who just gives him a hard stare in return.

“Fine,” Kent rolls his eyes. He passes the shot to Tater, then gives one to Shitty and picks one up for himself. “At least drink your beer _with_ us, Jesus.”

“Fine,” Jack repeats, holding up his beer as everyone else lifts their shots.

“To Canada,” Kent says, and they all give a shout. They drink together and laugh. “All right,” Kent says, picking up this bottle again, “One more.” He gets the group to hold out their plastic cups, pouring one more round of shots from the bottle.

“Lord,” Eric murmurs, looking over at Jack with a small smile. Jack makes a little face at him, but can’t say anything before they start cheering and shouting and drinking again. Jack takes a drink of his beer.

Eric washes some of the burn from the shots away with the last of his beer and puts a hand to his mouth. He wasn’t exactly planning on getting shitfaced when he walked into the door, but the drinks he had earlier coupled with two shots and a beer are starting to hit him in earnest. Kent collects their plastic shotcups and takes empty cans as well, tossing them all in the recycling bin near the back before grabbing some chips and offering them around.

Now that the shots have been taken and the only one near Jack is Tater, Eric sees his chance to get back to Jack’s side. He takes a couple steps and loops his arm around Jack’s bicep, looking up at him. He can feel the buzz from the alcohol in his cheeks, but all it’s doing is making him smile stupidly, and honestly Jack’s face could do that anyway at this point.

“Hey,” Jack says, looking down at him.

“Hi,” Eric responds, slowly pulling his arm away. Jack just moves his hand to the middle of Eric’s back and Eric grins at him again. “Are you really miserable?” he asks, suddenly remembering what Kent said earlier.

“Huh? No,” Jack says, tilting his head.

“Okay, just making sure. I want you to have a good time,” Eric tells him. Jack slides his hand up and gives Eric’s shoulder a squeeze.

“I’m fine, promise. I’m not the hugest fan of crowds but it’s not like I’ve never been to a party before.”

“We didn’t have to come,” Eric says with a pout, eyes swimming with concern. Okay, so maybe he’s a bit more drunk than he thought he was, but he just doesn’t want Jack to be sad, not tonight. He was so happy after winning.

“No, I want to be here, at least for a while,” Jack promises again. “Besides, I have you here, and Shitty, and Tater, and your friend Mimi,” Jack says. “Kent, I guess,” he adds, looking over at the Aces captain. Kent has his hand on Mimi’s back again, talking to her and a girl with dark brown hair tied up in a bun on her head.

Eric gives a little snort. “He likes you,” Eric says, “but I think he’s just a bit of a dick, sometimes. I think he means well.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack says. “I know what Kent’s like. Being a bit of a dick is basically the only way he knows how to interact with other people. It took me a while to figure that out, but,” Jack lifts one of his shoulders and takes a sip of the beer he’s been nursing.

“Mmh,” Eric says, because he doesn’t really know Kent Parson or the nature of his relationship with Jack, not yet. That’s a can of worms to be opened another day, though, when there are fewer people and less alcohol.

“Oooh, I love this song,” Mimi says, looking from her conversation with Kent Parson and the brown-haired girl. “We should dance.”

“Fuck yeah,” Shitty says. “Bits, Jack, Tater, if you’re still with us, let’s go dance.”

“What?” Tater looks over at the sound of his name. He’s been standing next to Jack but talking to a guy in Russian for the past five minutes. Shitty tells him they’re going to dance.

“Do you like to dance?” Eric asks, eyes bright as he turns his face up to Jack.

“Uh,” Jack starts, but Eric already knows the answer by the look of distaste and worry crossing Jack’s face. “We can go,” he answers and Eric pouts at him again. Jack leans down, nose above Eric’s ear. “If anything, I’d like to watch you dance,” he whispers, which puts a smile back on Eric’s face.

“Fine,” Eric says.

“Wait, wait,” Kent says. “We need some drinks for the road,” he insists, turning to get another bottle and some more solo cups.

“Parson, you’re gonna have me on my fucking ass,” Eric groans, taking the cup being handed to him and watching Kent pour the liquor in before the mix.

“Sure I can’t get you on your back instead?” Kent asks with a wink. Eric’s face goes red and the girls behind him giggle.

“Joking aside,” Shitty starts in a stern voice, “intoxicated people cannot consent to sexual acts, so those who plan to have sex should watch how much they and their prospective partner are taking in to make sure nobody has, at best, regrets the next morning.”

“Alright, make sure to cut me off early, then,” Mimi announces and the girl next to her snickers as she takes a sip of the drink Kent just poured her.

“Oh Shits,” Jack mutters and Eric just looks at him, still a little stunned from what Kent said to him to have really paid attention to Shitty’s rant. Even so, with their drinks in hand, the group of them start to move toward the door and into a room most of them haven’t made it to yet, the place where the music is blasting the loudest.

Mimi reaches for Eric’s hand again and he takes hers in his free one, going to find a spot where they can all dance. He takes a little drink from his cup.

Jack and Tater end up standing off to the side as the rest of them merge with the bigger group of people already dancing. When a recognizable song comes on, Eric, Shitty, Mimi, and Kent all start belting out the lyrics along with at least ten or twenty other people in the room. Eric tries to stay near the edge of the crowd of people so he can turn and see Jack most of the time, but people are constantly shuffling around so it’s not the most manageable goal at the moment.

“Oh my fuck,” Eric says, holding up his hand as the song changes. “This song is so ancient.”

“Excuse me, it’s a classic? Who the fuck doesn’t love Britney?” Kent yells back to him as Break the Ice rings through the air.

“What? I didn’t say anything against it, I love this song!” Eric waves his hand as if that will emphasize his point in this context. “I just didn’t expect it!”

Kent just laughs and the two of them start to sing again when it hits the chorus. Mimi turns from the guy she was dancing with to join in, the guy moving up behind her to keep dancing with her. Kent moves a little closer to Eric, who tosses his head back to look at Jack. Their eyes meet for a second before some tall woman steps in front of Eric and blocks his view.

Eric just keeps on dancing, doing his best to keep his distance from grabby unfamiliar people. He ends up squishing himself between Mimi and Kent after an unknown hands squeezes his ass and freaks him out. Kent puts a hand on his waist, a pretty respectable location that’s nowhere near the edge of Jack’s Team Canada t-shirt.

“Ugh, fuck, I love Lady Gaga,” Eric hears Kent half yell in his ear as the song melts into a new one.

“Me too!” Eric says, lifting his drink to find he’s only got one mouthful left. Mimi lost her cup at some point, as did Kent, evidently, as he’s placing his other hand on Eric’s other side. Mimi presses her back to Eric’s, having shaken off the guy that was with her a few moments ago. Eric slings his arm with the empty cup over Kent’s shoulder, lifting up on his toes for a moment to try to catch a glimpse of Jack. He doesn’t see him.

Kent looks over his shoulder in the direction Eric’s looking, but he doesn’t see Jack or even Shitty or Tater. He just keeps dancing with Eric, not too concerned. Jack is a grown boy. Maybe he’s off actually enjoying himself. Imagine that.

“Okay, I’m super impressed with the music,” Eric yells in Kent’s ear as Mimi’s hands cover Kent’s on his waist.

“Fuckin’ right,” Kent yells back. “Shit, this is like, my song,” Kent says, breathing in as Die Young by Kesha graces their ears. Lots of throwback songs, apparently, but they’re all good ones. When they first walked in, the music hadn’t been in English, so they’re glad to be able to sing along.

The three of them start to yell to the lyrics song like they have been for most of the ones they know, Eric pressing closer to Kent as Mimi’s hands slide up Kent’s forearms. Eric just manages to turn around between them so he can face Mimi as Kent lifts one hand and presses closer so he can touch Mimi’s hip as well as Eric’s. The three of them move and sway to the music.

“So while you’re here in my arms, let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young,” they all cry as the song nears its end. Eric leans his head back on Kent’s shoulder and laughs a little. The alcohol is still hitting him hard, maybe even a bit harder now that he’s warm and squished between two objectively attractive people, even if he’s not into Mimi like that. Eric lifts one hand up to Kent’s shoulder, the solo cup still hanging in his other hand.

“Hey, hey, we should go sit somewhere,” Eric says, his hand hitting Kent’s shoulder and then brushing up against his face.

“Good idea,” Kent says, his eyes on Mimi’s, who is smirking at him, her hands past Eric’s hips and on Kent’s.

Eric manages to get out from between them, taking Mimi’s hand in his free one and putting his cup on the first open surface he sees, following Kent over to where there are a few chairs and couches pressed against the walls. There’s exactly one seat open on a loveseat and Kent stops in front of it for a beat.

“Um,” Eric says, looking over at him.

“Okay,” Kent says, sitting down. He leans forward and grabs Mimi by the waist, pulling her to sit on his knee. She looks back at him, then over at Eric as Kent reaches for him, squeezing him next to Mimi on his lap.

“You are not that big, Kent Parson,” Eric complains and Kent pinches his side.

“You both fit, quit complaining. Or would you rather stand?”

Eric just does his best to look at Kent over his shoulder but remains seated. He really doesn’t feel like standing at the moment, and as soon as it occurs to him that he could, maybe, sit on the arm of the couch someone’s taking that seat and introducing themselves to him.

“Oh, hey! I remember you,” Eric says to the girl and she smiles brightly at him. She’s a figure skater he talked to near the beginning of the games.

“Hi! I thought I recognized you,” she says to him.  

“Your performance was amazing,” Eric gushes. “I think I told you when we were first chatting, I love figure skating right to death,” he explains and she nods. “You were really wonderful,” he adds.

“Yes, I remember you saying that,” she says, placing a hand on her chest. “Thank you very much. Did you mention you skate as well?”

“You remember that too?” Eric laughs, “Yeah, I used to be in figure skating, then hockey. I love it, and I still play hockey sometimes, but I’m no star athlete.”

“It’s good you’re still into it in some way, though,” the girl says, and the two of them continue chatting. Eric feels Kent lay his hand on his thigh at some point but pays no mind to him, too enthralled in the Olympian figure skater he’s talking to.

About ten minutes later, the figure skater makes to stand and says goodbye to Eric. While he has the chance, Eric pulls out his phone to post a couple tweets, hoping he doesn’t sound as drunk as he truly is. He almost doesn’t notice when the German bobsledder comes by. When he moves to sit where the figure skater had been, Eric looks up. He smiles and greets him, and the two of them quickly strike up a conversation.

The German guy, at one point, looks at Eric, then at Kent, and back to Eric again. Eric, in the middle of a sentence with one hand in the air to help him explain whatever drunken point he’s making, does not notice.

“Hey,” Eric hears a moment later, but he doesn’t turn until he’s poked in the arm. “Um,” the interrupting guy says.

“Jack!” Eric says, smiling brightly. “I lost you. We all lost you,” he says, turning his head to gesture to Mimi, and, by extension, Parse. “I’m just here talking to Vic about this one German pastry I’d like to try to make one of these days,” he explains and a smile forms on Jack’s lips.

“You would,” he shakes his head a little, ruffling Eric’s hair a bit.

“Jack,” Eric whines, “don’t mess it up.”

Jack just chortles at him but takes his hand back. His eyes flick back to Parson, talking with the person sitting next to him behind Mimi’s back. Kent’s gaze slides over just in time for him to catch Jack’s eye and he raises a brow.

“Zimms, we had no clue where you fucked off to,” Kent calls, holding Eric and Mimi’s hips as he leans forward to peer between their heads.

“I didn’t fuck off anywhere, I just changed the wall I was standing next to,” Jack says, brows knit.

“Oh,” Kent says. “Are you still drinking the same beer as when we left you? Seriously?”

“No, this is a second one, actually,” Jack says with a roll of his eyes.

“Whoa, proud of you,” Kent says with a smirk and Jack just scoffs at him. Eric’s back talking to the German bobsledder about different types of flour or something along those lines, Jack can’t really follow the conversation.

“Not everyone can drink like you can,” Jack says and Kent just rolls his eyes at him in return. Eric laughs at something the German guy is saying, twisting his body a bit more to face him and ask a question. The German’s response garners more laughter.

Jack scuffs his shoe on the ground and Kent licks his lips. He squeezes Eric’s hip once Eric stops laughing as loudly. Kent then nudges him with his shoulder. Eric twists more to try to look at Kent, but it doesn’t work well because Kent is leaning in the other way.

“Fuck,” Eric mutters, turning his head the other direction. “Huh? What is it?”

Kent leans in, closer, his breath tickling Eric’s neck. “I think your boy wants you back now, baby,” Kent says and Eric feels his cheeks heat up. Kent just nods his head toward Jack, who definitely didn’t hear him and is looking at Kent with a bit of ice in his gaze due to Kent’s expression in general.

“Oh,” Eric murmurs, swallowing as Kent laughs against his ear. “Right,” he mutters, feeling Kent pat his leg. He turns to the German bobsledder to say “excuse me”, then turns back to Jack. “Jack,” Eric says, holding out his hand in front of him. “Will you show me where the bathroom’s at, please?” he waves a hand a little and Jack takes it. Eric stands and feels Kent lightly slap his ass, so he turns to jokingly slap him on the arm.

“You better watch those hands, boy,” Eric says but he can’t help but laugh. Kent just holds his hand up before sliding it along Mimi’s waist, pulling her closer now that Eric’s not taking up half his lap.

Eric squeezes Jack’s hand and tugs him along, despite being the one who asked for Jack to take him somewhere.

“Um, Bitty? Er, Eric,” Jack asks, walking close to him.

“Yes?” Eric asks, looking up. “You can call me Bitty if you want.”

Jack just shrugs, “It’s your name, I’ll call you what you want to go by.”

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?”

“Uh, no,” Jack says, and suddenly wonders how a person this drunk is able to stay on task better than he is. “I wanted to tell you I don’t actually know where the bathroom is, here?”

“Oh,” Eric giggles and stops walking now that they’re back in the hall. “Well, we could find it. Oorr,” Eric says, putting a hand on Jack’s chest for a second before clasping his hands behind his back, “I could just use the bathroom back at your room.”

“Are you ready to leave?” Jack asks, doing his best to keep his face from looking too hopeful. He was being honest when he said he wanted to come tonight, but… He’s getting a bit partied out.

“I think so, yeah,” Eric says with a little smile.

“Really? Are you sure?” Jack asks, because he wants Eric to have a good time, and it looks like he’s been enjoying himself so far.

Eric nods, “Well, yeah. I took shots, I got to dance. I somehow ended up on Kent Parson’s lap,” Eric says, his face going a bit confused as if this is the first time he realized he’d been sitting on Kent. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty fucking loaded right now. I guess I could dance more but I am _done_ drinking tonight. If you’re ready to go, I’d like to,” Eric says, reaching out to run his hand down Jack’s arm.

“Okay, yeah. I’m ready,” Jack confesses.

“Great! Oh, um, I guess I should let Mimi know I’m leaving,” Eric says. “Wait, no, I’ll just text her.” Where’s Shitty at?” Eric pulls out his phone in order to send the text, smiling mindlessly at his phone.

“He’s with Snowy and another guy from the Falcs right now. I’m pretty sure they’re thinking of cabbing into town,” Jack says.

“Okay, so long as he’s accounted for,” Eric says, nodding his head firmly. “Alright! Let’s roll.”

Jack laughs at him and puts his arm around Eric’s shoulder as they head for the door. He’s grateful nobody else spots him and tries to talk, feeling entirely overstimulated all of a sudden. The cold air that hits them helps a little bit on their walk back over to Jack’s accommodations.

The lobby is pretty deserted when they get there, Eric being the only one making any noise as they make their way up to Jack’s room. Eric’s babbling on about something, trying to explain the pastry he’d been talking about to the German bobsledder. Jack does his best to listen, but Eric’s only sort of making sense right now, so if his thoughts drift is it really his fault?

Jack unlocks his door and holds it open for Eric, who slips off his boots and goes to flop down on Jack’s bed, finally falling quiet.

“Mon cher,” Jack starts, shutting the door and locking it. He goes over to grab a half-filled bottle of water and brings it over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Eric, “I think you should have some of this.”

Eric looks up at him, “Water? That’s no fun, Jack.”

“The party is over,” Jack says, holding it out.

“But I ain’t no quitter, baby,” Eric says, making a face at him. Jack just presses his brows up and shakes the bottle at him. Eric scoffs but takes it, and sits up some to drink some.

Jack smiles and moves to sit against his pillows, yawning into his shoulder. Eric sits up fully and twists to look at Jack. He smiles and crawls over to Jack’s lap.

“Hey,” he says, eyes feeling fuzzy.

“Hey,” Jack greets, his hand resting comfortably on Eric’s hip. Eric leans in and kisses him, Jack kisses back. He can taste the alcohol on Eric’s mouth, but he doesn’t mind too much. Eric slides his hands up Jack’s chest and then into his hair, sighing against his mouth.

“Let’s fuck,” Eric says, and Jack squeezes his hip.

“Not tonight,” Jack tells him, “you are way too drunk.”

Eric pouts, “Ach. Jack, c’mon, obviously I’m okay with it. We’ve had sex, like, a bajillion times now.”

Jack smirks and shakes his head no, “You’re _very_ drunk right now and I’m completely sober. I can’t, Bitty.”

 Eric kisses Jack again and leans his head on his shoulder, “Fiine.”

“We can fuck in the morning,” Jack promises him. “I don’t have any more games to worry about, so we can take our time, do whatever you want,” Jack rubs Eric’s back and he hums.

“Okay, baby,” Eric murmurs, then he lifts his head. “Is this okay? I’m sorry that I’m too drunk. I didn’t really mean to be _this_ drunk, I didn’t wanna ruin your time.”

“No, no,” Jack shakes his head. “You’re not ruining my time at all. I don’t mind that you’re drunk. We already had sex once today, anyway.”

“I sat in Kent Parson’s lap,” Eric says, eyes going serious for a moment. “Is that okay? It was because there was nowhere else to sit. I don’t wanna ruin this before we’re even started.”

“I don’t care, I promise,” Jack can’t help but laugh just a little, tightening his arms around Eric’s waist. “I’ve done much worse with Kent Parson myself, I can’t really say anything about that.”

“Wait, really?” Eric says, eyes going wide.

“Yes,” Jack says, shutting his eyes for a second. “That is a conversation for when we’re both sober.”

“Fair,” Eric says. “Well, anyway, I much prefer sitting in your lap,” he says, wiggling a bit to emphasize his point. Jack laughs again. It feels nice, but he’s already made up his mind that he’s not having sex with someone as drunk as Eric.

“That’s all I ask,” Jack says, kissing Eric on the neck lightly. Eric giggles and Jack squeezes him again.

“I really like you. Are you sure you’re okay with how drunk I am right now? Sometimes drunk people are awful to be around. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Eric,” Jack says softly, leaning back to look at him. “I’m not bothered by it. You’ve seen Shitty when he’s drunk, yeah? Remember, he is my best friend, I deal with him drunk, and high, all the time. You’re an adult, I brought you to a party, it’s not like I expected anybody but myself to leave sober.”

Eric looks at him, blinking his eyes. “Okay,” he says softly, dropping his head on Jack’s chest again. “I just don’t want to fuck up,” he says quietly.

“Me either,” Jack breathes. “But we’re off to a good start, hm? Don’t you think”

“Mhm,” Eric nods his head. He lifts it in order to press a couple kisses to Jack’s lips. “You’re the best. I mean, at the very least, we know you can put up with my drunk self. I promise I don’t get this drunk that often, too.”

Jack laughs at him again, “You’re an adorable drunk, Bitty.”

“You saying I’m not cute sober?”

“What? No, that’s not what I said at all,” Jack frowns at him and it’s Eric’s turn to laugh.

“I know, I know. I’m just being mean,” Eric sticks up tongue out and Jack smiles at him again. A moment later, Jack stifles another yawn, turning his head from Eric.

“We can go to bed now, sugar, if you want. I mean, I sorta just assumed I’d be staying here tonight. If that assumption was off base, I can hightail it outta here.”

“No, of course you can stay here tonight. I thought you would be,” Jack hugs Eric a little closer to him, as if to combat the implication that he might be leaving.

“You’re so much cuddlier than I thought you’d be,” Eric giggles, wrapping his arms around Jack’s shoulders and squeezing him tight. Jack held onto him in the same fashion. “Like when I first met you. I never commented on it before but I’ve thought about it. You don’t look like a cuddler, is all, but you are.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Definitely. I may not like, like, unannounced physical contact from people, but I love cuddling with people I’m comfortable with.”  Eric rubs his nose against Jack’s cheek before kissing it. Jack chuckles a little.

“Okay, good,” Jack says softly. Eric dips his face in Jack’s neck.

Soon enough, Eric climbs out of Jack’s lap. Jack gets Eric to take off his jeans, at least, before he gets under the covers. Jack changes into pyjamas before joining Eric, spooning him even though he’s pretty sure Eric’s already fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is way longer than most of my other chapters but oh well. I actually love writing party scenes for some reason, so ??


	11. Chapter 11

Jack is the first to wake in the morning, unsurprisingly. He’s not sure if Eric works today or not, but he doesn’t bother waking him up right away. He goes to take a quick shower and comes back, then gets dressed. Even after that, Eric is still fast asleep.

When the clock hits 9am, Jack leans over Eric’s body, watching his chest rise and fall. He dips down and presses his lips to Eric’s, chaste, until Eric’s eyelids flutter open.

“Hey there,” Eric croaks, looking slightly confused but not unhappy.

“Hi,” Jack greets with a smile.

Eric shuts his eyes again, swallowing before mumbling, “What time is it?”

“It’s about 9 o’clock.”

“Hhnnn,” Eric lifts a hand to rub his eye, looking up at Jack a second later. Jack’s still hovering over him, not too close, but not far.

“Do you have work this morning?”

“Not ‘til 12:30.”

“Oh. I’m sorry I woke you, then,” Jack says, looking from Eric’s eyes to his lips and then further down to avoid his gaze.

“S’okay,” Eric says, reaching up to run his hand through Jack’s hair. “It’s a nice way to wake up, seeing your face.”

Jack blushes as his eyes flick back up to meet Eric’s. “I like waking up and seeing you next to me, too,” he says quietly, and Eric feels warmth spread through his chest.

Eric gives him a sweet smile and slips his hand to Jack’s neck, pulling him down to kiss him again. He touches Jack’s chest over his shirt, and Jack shifts forward, more into Eric’s space. Jack’s the one to deepen their kissing, sweeping his tongue into Eric’s mouth without any regard for the fact neither of them have brushed their teeth.

“Do you remember last night?” Jack asks after he pulls back and Eric squeezes his brows together.

“Generally, yes. Is there something specific you’re referencing here?”

“What we talked about when we got back here,” Jack tries and Eric still looks vaguely confused.

“Baby, I been awake for all of five minutes so far. You’re gonna have to forgive me if I need a little help. Um. I was worrying over being so drunk? I’m still sorry for that, by the way,” Eric says softly.

“And it’s still fine,” Jack says. “Not that, not exactly. There was something we couldn’t do because you were so drunk, remember?”

Eric’s face gets a little warm again, “Oh, yeah, that. Um. Sorry I was being sort of pushy.”

Jack just laughs and shakes his head, “That’s not what I was getting that, Eric. Bits, I promised you morning sex. Are you still interested?”

“Oooh,” Eric says, his eyes going wide. He laughs. “Um, definitely. Can I slip out to the bathroom first?”

“Of course,” Jack says, leaning back.

When Eric returns, he settles in Jack’s lap and the two of them pick up from where Jack stopped him the night prior.

And this time, the they decide to take it slow. There’s no desperation, not like there was before, and they aren’t overly excited or high or hasty with it. Everything from their kissing, to their touching, to the way their bodies rock together is languid, easy. The take their time, just as Jack promised, and it’s as amazing as any previous sex they’ve had together.

Afterwards, they lie together, with Jack’s face pressed to Eric’s chest as their breathing slows back down.

The first noise either of them makes is Jack mumbling something in French into Eric’s collar and Eric tilts his head.

“What was that, honey?”

“We should go for breakfast,” Jack says.

“Mmmmhh, good idea. I wanna jump in the shower, but we can go right after that.”

So Jack waits for Eric to get out of the shower, pulling his camera bag out of his things for the first time in a while. He’s been able to take a couple pictures during the trip, but now that he’s got a few free days before he flies back to the States, he wants to use the opportunity to go out and capture more of the area. Maybe he’ll see if Eric will come with him for a bit.

Jack pushes that thought aside when Eric returns, smelling nice and looking lovely in the change of clothes he left in Jack’s room at some point.

“Ready to go?” Eric asks, and Jack nods, taking his hand for a moment and leaning down for a kiss before pulling back.

“Now I am,” Jack says and Eric gives him an adorable grin, turning around to open the door and go out.

There are plenty of places to get food, in addition to the break rooms that Eric helps keep up. They go somewhere that’s near the accommodations, not wanting to walk farther than they have to. It’s a place they’re able to get food and sit down to eat, and thankfully it’s not ridiculously busy at this time.

Eric gets a fruit salad and toast, as well as coffee, and Jack gets an omelette with ham and toast on the side, and the two of them sit together at a little table in the corner.

“That looks good,” Eric comments, sticking his fork into a piece of melon and taking a bite.

“Want some of my eggs?” Jack asks, cutting a piece with the side of his fork. “You could use more protein.”

Eric scoffs, then laughs. “Wow, thanks,” he says.

“What? Everyone needs protein, Bittle.”

Eric rolls his eyes at him, saying only, “I’ll try a little piece.”

Jack sticks out his fork and Eric looks from his face to the fork, and back again. Jack holds it a little closer and Eric leans forward, biting the eggs from his fork.

“It’s good,” Eric says, glancing around himself. It’s not busy but the place isn’t empty, there are still other people around. Jack doesn’t seem to care, so Eric decides he doesn’t care either.

“Can I have a grape?” Jack asks a second later, sticking his fork back into his eggs.

“Sure,” Eric says, stabbing a grape with his fork. He smiles as he holds out his fork to Jack, who leans forward and pulls the grape off with his teeth. Eric laughs lightly and Jack even winks at him.

The two are fairly quiet as they eat, and Eric ends up pulling his phone to check some messages and look at the tweets he put up last night. He also has a bunch of snapchats from Shitty and Mimi, as well as a snapchat friend request to answer. He answers the friend request first. It turns out to be Tater, who must have got his user from Shitty or something.

He announces as much to Jack, who asks him what exactly snapchat is again.

“It’s this app where you can send pictures to people for up to ten seconds. You can also put up a story and the pictures stay there for a day, and all your friends can see it. There’s, like, a chatting feature and other stuff too but the photos are the main premise.”

“Ah. That definitely sounds like it would interest Tater.”

“It’s so fun. Look, here,” Eric says, sliding out of his chair to go over to Jack. He holds his phone out in front of them and Jack gives a slightly bemused smile. “You can put filters over it. Oooh, here’s an Olympics one. You can add text,” Eric taps out ‘Just getting breakfast w gold medalist Jack Zimmermann ndb.’ “And then you can choose who it goes to,” he says, tapping on Mimi, Shitty, Carter, and some of his friends back home.

“Oh, okay,” Jack says. “We should take a better photo than that, though,” he says. They have a few other selfies with the both of them, and as of yesterday they were technically on television together, but Eric still agrees.

“We can,” Eric says. “Let’s check some of these snaps, though.” He taps on Shitty’s first, being met with pictures of them pre-drinking last night, then pictures of the actual party, two selfies with Tater and one with Snowy, an unflattering photo of Kent Parson that must have been taken after Jack and Eric left, a video of whatever bar Shitty ended up at with Tater, and finally a selfie with the timestamp of 3:47 on it.

The antics from the night before leave both Eric and Jack snickering. It’s a good snap history, one that’s probably pretty typical for a lot of people. Eric moves on to Mimi’s, which is pretty similar.

First, there are pictures of them pre-drinking, a selfie of her and Eric, one where she’s kissing his cheek and he has his hand under his chin. Then, there’s pictures of the crowd from last night, one with #holyfuck and another with #olympicsizedparty as captions. There’s a selfie of her with Kent Parson, then a handful of selfies of her with various other athletes.

Eric’s grinning at the photos, but when he taps through to what’s likely the last one judging by the amount of seconds left, he almost drops his phone.

His most recent snap from Mimi is of her and Kent Parson, again, but this time they’re in a totally different location. She’s on what is likely a bed and has nothing but a blanket pulled over her chest, and Kent’s chest is bare. They’re both grinning at the camera and the caption is ‘Olympics goal? #accomplished’.

“Oh my fucking God,” Eric chokes, and Jack takes in a sharp breath, but it’s mostly because he’s trying to keep from laughing. Kent’s totally the type to take an after-sex selfie with a hookup. Eric’s face is red as he locks his phones and shoves it back into his pocket, going over to his chair. “I think that’s enough snapchat for now.”

Jack can’t help but burst out laughing, putting his hand on the table in front of him. “If you say so,” he grins, and Eric just clicks his tongue.

 “I’m surprised you’re so scandalized. It’s not like you’re so innocent yourself. You told me that the first time we met,” Jack points out, picking up a piece of toast and biting into it once he’s finished speaking.

Eric just purses his lips, “I’m not scandalized, I just… Was not expecting that.”

“Mhmmm,” Jack says, still grinning. Eric’s blushing face is always adorable, so he isn’t complaining about it.

“People don’t usually send me their after-sex selfies, just FYI.”

“Ah. We run with different crowds, then,” Jack says with a shrug and Eric’s eyes go a little wide. “Shitty,” is all Jack says after that and Eric nods slowly.

“That’s fair,” he says a moment later.

“Surprisingly, Tater as well,” Jack muses, shaking his head. Eric’s blushing a little again. “Well, it happened once.”

“Oh my goodness,” Eric says.

Jack laughs at his expression. “Are you sure you’re not as innocent as you look?”

“Jack, you know damn well exactly how innocent I am. It just surprises me about you, I guess,” Eric says with a shrug. “For some reason, even after all we’ve done, you still come off as shy to me. And I guess It sort of reminds me of how it was at college, y’know, all the sexcapades. Stuff like that.” Eric pauses, thinking for a second, then keeps talking, “I guess that doesn’t necessarily end after college either, but, honestly, I haven’t been going out as much or doing this kind of thing since graduating and starting work. It’s been busy.”

“Mh, that makes sense, though. Didn’t you say you were striking balance between work and play, though?”

“Heh, yeah. Not enough to have a super active sex life. Or dating life, really,” Eric admits. “And most of my friends right now are co-workers or neighbours and a lot of them are married or half-settled. Mimi and I didn’t even know each other all that well when we came here, she and I were hardly on shift together.”

“No? You two seem like best friends.”

“Haha, we might as well be, now.” Eric says with a fond smile. “But, I mean. Well, look at us, Jack,” Eric says, sticking his fork into the last strawberry in his bowl. “You and I never met before the Olympics. I feel like being in such close quarters with people for two weeks straight just sorta fosters this type of thing.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m not usually one to get this close to people all that easily, I guess, but I’ve been witness to many quickly-formed friendships ever since I started going to training camps as a teenager.”

Eric nods his head. He usually would end up making pretty fast friends with his co-workers at summer camps, which was a totally different environment than, say, his high school experience. He wasn’t as prepared for the atmosphere of the Olympics, but how could anybody be?

The two of them finish up their food and then take a little walk around, chatting with their hands in their pockets. In addition to his snapchats, Eric has a lot of people tweeting at him about his appearance with Jack Zimmermann on the news. His mother left him an excited voicemail about her baby being on TV and everything (although it’s not the first time he’s been in the news, he’d been printed in the paper for winning some pie contest at age 11, but this is the biggest instance thus far). He listens to it with Jack and they both chuckle together about it, and he even gets Jack to record a little video with him saying hello to her to send through Facebook chat.

They almost let the time get away from them, but Eric has an alarm set twenty minutes before each shift now, so he has to run. Before he can go, though, Jack stops him.

“Hey, you said we’d get a better picture together earlier,” Jack starts, because this is totally the easiest way to bring up what he wants to ask Eric.

“Sure thing, doll, but I gotta go now. Can’t I just see you later?”

“Of course. I just wanted to ask you if you’d like to come with me into town tonight. I’m taking out my good camera, I haven’t gotten much of a chance to take pictures here thanks to hockey. It could be, like,” Jack pauses to bite his tongue. “Um, a date, maybe?”

Jack watches as a smile slowly spreads across Eric’s face as he hears the words pour from Jack’s mouth.

“I would love that, Jack. I’ll be done work at 4, I can come meet you in your room after that, if you want.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jack says, reaching out and squeezing Eric’s shoulder even though he really just wants to kiss him. Eric says his goodbye, then he’s on his way.

Eric has a somewhat busy shift, as per usual, and ends up messaging Jack at 3:45 to say he’s going to take a few minutes to freshen up and he should be there a little after 4. Jack tells him to take all the time he needs, then sends a happy face.  

Eric arrives at Jack’s room at 4:23, in light blue flannel, dark jeans, and what Jack would refer to as a touque.

“Come in,” Jack says, mainly because he wants to kiss Eric before they leave. Eric shuts the door and Jack puts his hands on Eric’s waist, pulling him closer to steal a kiss. Eric laughs against his mouth but kisses back a moment later.

“Thought we were going to take pictures, Mr. Zimmermann?”

“We will. I called a taxi a few minutes ago, we can go down in a second.” Jack bends down for another kiss, and Eric complies.

“Mmh. Y’know, normally, I wouldn’t be so quick to kiss on what’s technically our first date.”

Jack laughs at that, “I don’t think our relationship can be considered normal, Eric. But that’s okay. Right?”

“Of course,” Eric says, smoothing his hands over the navy blue sweater Jack is wearing. He’s also wearing dark pants, so they’re matching really well and Eric sort of loves it. “I’ve never been what people might consider ‘normal’, really. Not a normal little boy, or a normal manly man. I don’t have normal interests, not by social standards. But I’ve made peace with it.”

“I’m glad that you’re exactly the person you are,” Jack says, soft. When Eric hugs him, Jack presses his face into Eric’s hair.

“Thank you,” Eric says, voice barely a whisper. When Jack says stuff like that it’s no wonder he’s so far gone even though their relationship is so new. Jack’s intense, but it’s really starting to grow on him. “Come on,” Eric says after a moment, “if we don’t get going we’ll never have our first real date.”

“Okay,” Jack laughs, leaning down to kiss him one more time. Eric smiles when Jack pulls away.

The two of them go down the stairs, and then outside to find their taxi. There’s some sort of big nature trail not too far from the entire Olympics Complex, about a twenty-minute drive or so. Said drive is made just a bit longer with the traffic. Jack pays for the taxi and tips well, then the two of them get out of the car.

They start walking on the trail for a bit before Jack takes out his camera, fiddling with the settings a bit. He lingers a little so Eric is a few steps ahead of him before he stops, holding up the camera and asking “Are you ready?”

“Huh?” Eric says, turning around. Jack takes his picture, capturing the look of surprise and confusion.

“Jack, I thought you were going to take pictures of the scenery,” Eric says, smiling as his cheeks warm just a bit.

“Did you? I thought the implication that you’d be modeling was clear,” Jack says easily, although he’d really given no indication that he wanted to photograph Eric and he knows that. He takes a picture of Eric smiling.

“What? You didn’t say that at all,” Eric says, trying to frown. Jack just keep snapping photos and Eric laughs, holding his hands in front of his mouth. “Jack, quit it!”

“How come?” Jack asks, as Eric looks away from him, cheeks still red. He takes a picture of that, too.

“I dunno, because! It’s embarrassing.”

“You’re beautiful, Bits. I see no better subject for my photos,” Jack says, once again capturing the look on Eric’s face when he looks back at him. It’s a nice shot, Eric looking soft and warm.

Jack pauses, then goes on.  “Go stand by that tree,” Jack tells him. Eric grumbles, but he does it.

“Look to the left,” Jack tells him, and Eric fights to keep the smile off his face. The resulting disgruntled expression is cute, too.

Eric looks back to Jack again after a second, then smirks. He slips behind the tree, sticking his head out from behind it. Jack laughs and takes a picture.

Eric moves so he’s more or less beside the tree, one hand touching the bark. He pauses long enough for Jack to photograph him, if he wants, then he starts walking away, looking around to see if there’s anything else he can interact with.

They end up coming up to a few benches and Eric sits down, looking up at Jack with his camera. He smiles and Jack snaps another photo.

“Can I see some of the pictures?” Eric asks, and Jack sits with him, handing him the camera. Eric flips through them and snorts. “These are so ridiculous. Some of them are nice,” he says, stiffening his shoulders. “I really like these two,” he says, referencing the one where he was looking away, and then the one taken when Jack complimented him.

“I like them of all,” Jack says.

Once he’s through all of the photos, Eric lifts up the camera. “Okay. My turn now.”

Jack half smiles and rolls his eyes, looking away from the camera. Eric takes a couple pictures, then stands up to get one from the front.

“Put your arm over the bench and look, like, over there,” Eric says, gesturing. Jack complies, and Eric gets shots from a couple different angles. He’s definitely no photographer, but he’s not bad, and Jack’s fancy camera is good to work with. As well, Jack’s so good looking Eric would bet any photo of him would be nice.

“Hey, Jack,” Eric says, and Jack’s eyes flick over but he doesn’t move much yet. “I think you’re honestly one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.” He says, capturing the moment when Jack brings his hand up, his eyes soft and avoiding the camera. His smile is small, but sincere.

“Thanks,” Jack breathes a moment later, finally looking up to the camera.

“It’s just the truth, honey,” Eric says with a grin of his own. “Let’s move locations,” he says, and Jack gets up. They walk side-by-side for a while, Jack’s hand brushing up against Eric’s too often for it to be accidental.

The trail leads upwards, and eventually they find a little gazebo overseeing a small cliff edge. They decide to stop there, and Eric takes a picture of Jack leaning his arms on the ledge, looking out. Jack turns and leans with his back against it instead, arms crossed over his chest. Eric takes a step back so he’s facing Jack straight on, taking a picture like that, too.

“I think you’ve had that long enough. I want a picture of you here, too,” Jack says, and Eric gives up the camera.

“Y’know, I’m not going to lie, I actually do like having my photo taken. Although I still maintain that it can be embarrassing. Especially when I’m caught off guard.” Eric goes and takes Jack’s spot, hopping up to sit on the ledge, holding on to one of the pillars holding up the roof. Jack takes a couple photos.

“I legitimately dislike having my photo taken a lot of the time,” Jack confesses. “I don’t mind when it’s you. I don’t like paparazzi.”

“I can’t imagine why you’d like paparazzi,” Eric says, serious. “That’s a whole other thing entirely. I like it when my friends take my picture, or ask me to be in selfies. I wouldn’t like people just randomly taking my photo without even knowing it’s happening.”

“Mh. Being part of photoshoots is sometimes okay, but it really depends on the day and the photographer,” Jack says, taking another picture when Eric twists to look elsewhere, his hands now gripping the ledge he’s sitting on.

“See,” Eric says, looking back at him, “I feel like I would love having professional photos done. Like, well, like this, where we go out and stage photos somewhere cool.”

“So you’re enjoying this now?” Jack asks, and Eric gives him a sunny smile. He can’t resist the urge to click the shutter button once more.

“Of course.” Eric sticks his tongue out and Jack laughs. “Hey,” he says a moment later, “we need some pictures together, too.”

“Okay,” Jack says. He moves in beside Eric and holds his camera out towards them, hoping they’re within the borders. They take a couple smiling, then Jack turns and kisses Eric on the cheek, smiling against his face.

“Jack!” Eric gasps, looking over at him. He looks downright scandalized. Jack’s face is basically just the heart-eyes emoji. “We’re in public,” Eric says, flustered.

“Sorry,” Jack laughs. He doesn’t sound sorry at all. He turns the camera so they can look at the photos together, finding they’re pretty well centered.

Eric’s face is still burning as he reaches for his phone. “Well, we might as well get a _real_ selfie since we’re here already.”

“Do selfies taken with actual cameras not count?” Jack asks him, but he’s ready to accept the answer he knows Eric is going to give him.

“Tch. Not really,” Eric says with a roll of his eyes. He holds his phone out with the front-facing camera, and the two of them lean in to smile again. Eric turns his face toward Jack just a bit, and Jack meets him in a kiss. Eric snaps a picture of that before turning away, looking up to make sure nobody walked by. He laughs. They only saw a few other people lingering around the beginning of the trail when they first arrived and haven’t run into anybody else yet, but Eric’s still a little worried.

 “There’s nobody here,” Jack says quietly, looking in the same direction Eric is.

“I know, but,” Eric says. “We just gotta be careful, right?”

“Yeah,” Jack says, heaving a sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, I’m just… Tired, is all. Of hiding things like this.”

“Oh, sweetheart. It’s okay. I don’t mind, you just took me by surprise.” Eric grips Jack’s arm, smiling at him softly. “Only a few more months and you’ll be out, Jack.”

“I know,” Jack says. “And a couple weeks ago that didn’t seem so long to wait, but now it just feels like forever,” Jack murmurs. “At the same time, it’s more than just my sexuality and I know that. If you and I are going to… be together, that’s a little different than just making a statement about myself.”

Eric nods slowly, but Jack doesn’t seem finished, so he waits. A moment later, Jack looks over at him. “I know this is pretty heavy for a first date, so if you don’t want to talk about this we don’t have to.”

“Jack, I think we already discussed the fact that this isn’t exactly a normal first date. This stuff is important, we’ve gotta talk about it sometime. And we’re both going to be leaving soon,” Eric says, his voice dropping quieter near the end. They only have a precious few days left together, and although he’d love to spend it just having fun and being with Jack, it’s in their best interests to talk about this if they really do want to be together.

“Yeah. I know we were talking a bit about normalcy, and I know you probably already understand this, but being in a relationship with me is never going to be normal. I’ve been in the public eye since I was a baby, I’m still going to be a professional athlete, the media will be concerned about my life for years to come, probably. That includes any sort of romance I’d be having.”

“I know,” Eric says softly. “And for that reason, I do think it would be good to keep us on the down-low for at least a while,” he says, wringing his hands a bit. He doesn’t want to disappoint Jack, but the possibility of them being together is still so new. It’s fragile, they have a lot to discover about each other, a lot to develop, and somehow Eric thinks the big lights of the media shining directly on it may not be the best idea.

“I agree,” Jack says. He sighs again. “I just wish it weren’t such a big deal, but I know it will be,” he says, chewing on his lip. “So, we’ll take it slow. When it comes time for me to come out, we’ll see where we’re at, and if we want to keep our relationship hidden I can just come forward and release a statement about my sexuality without referencing my relationship status.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Eric smiles, sliding his arm around Jack’s waist. Jack looks up, eyes darting to the trail before he turns and smiles at Eric.

“I’m so glad I met you,” Jack tells him, lifting a hand to brush against Eric’s cheek. Eric hums.

“Me too, honey. Wanna walk a little further? It’s gonna be dark out pretty soon.”

“Sure,” Jack says. He pauses to take a picture of the view from the gazebo, then they’re on their way. He photographs some more nature shots, and they get a couple more photos of each other before they make their way back.

At the end of the night, Jack walks Eric back to the place he’s staying in, much smaller than his own room. Eric invites him inside for a moment, thankful Carter isn’t there, just so he can kiss Jack goodnight. They promise to meet each other the next day, and then Jack’s on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting so close to the end! The next chapter will finish the main story, then there's a short epilogue. Thanks to everybody who has stuck with me so far. If you wanna check out my tumblr I'm at  gemsofthegalaxy.tumblr.com 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at the end!!! Are you crying? I'm crying. Eric's definitely crying (as you'll see)
> 
> Thanks so much to all of you lovely readers, especially those who left kudos, comments, bookmarked etc. It means soo much to me, you have no idea. I really enjoyed writing this and I'm glad other people enjoy it as well
> 
> There is an epilogue chapter that I'll probably be able to post tomorrow or something. Stay tuned for that~ 
> 
> As always, if you want to follow or chat or anything I can be reached on tumblr at  gemsofthegalaxy.tumblr.com 

There are a lot of things Eric did not expect to happen to him here at the Olympics. He didn’t necessarily expect to meet so many new people, to become so close to Mimi, to make friends with guys named things like ‘Tater’ and ‘Shitty’. He definitely, one hundred percent, did not expect to meet Jack Zimmermann, to hookup with Jack Zimmermann, or to end up with the possibility of dating Jack Zimmermann once he returns to Samwell. And he didn’t expect to spend half of the last day of the Olympics crying his eyes out, either.

Yet, here he is, crying at the closing ceremony with Shitty and Mimi by his side, watching the spectacles, the athletes, and everything else the Olympics are throwing at him. He’s not sobbing, he just has little tears spilling over now and again, which he quickly chases with the back of his hand. He knows he’s overemotional, he can’t help it.

It’s stupid. It’s not like he’s not going to see Jack again in three weeks. But, the next day he will have to see Jack and Shitty off at the airport, and he’s already sad about that. Afterwards, he and Mimi will still be working, on cleanup duty for their company for the next two days. Then, finally, he’ll be going home to Samwell and his mother will be visiting next week to get all the deets on his trip (as if he hasn’t been giving her updates every three days, as per her demands).

Eric does his best to push those thoughts out of his mind and enjoy the closing ceremony. He keeps his arms around one or both of his friends through most of it, glad to have them here with him. Besides, they’re both getting emotional at points, too. Shitty in particular, but even Mimi sniffles now and again.

Once they closing ceremonies are over, they end up in Jack’s room for a bit, until Shitty has to excuse himself to go make sure all of his shit is packed away. Mimi has plans to meet up with some other people (including Kent Parson) to go out on the town for one last wild night. She gives Eric and Jack tight hugs before she says goodbye to them.

Eric sits down on Jack’s bed when they’re alone, watching as Jack stuffs a Ziploc filled with cookies into his carry-on backpack. Jack has no idea how, but Eric somehow found time to bake something for him and Shitty to take for snacks on the plane tomorrow.

“You’ll really have to try my pie when we’re both back in the US,” Eric tells him. “It’s actually out of this world. Pie is definitely my favourite thing to bake, which is saying something.”

“Yeah?” Jack asks. “I feel like you’ve mentioned that before.”

“Probably,” Eric says with a little laugh.

“I’d love to try your pie, though I think my nutritionist is going to end up having to put her foot down,” Jack says, looking around the room. Eric had noticed Jack never really spread himself out too much here. Now it looks more empty than ever, with Jack’s bags stacked neatly against the door, nothing on the end table but a lamp. Eric’s fairly sure all the condoms Jack took have either been stuck somewhere in Jack’s luggage or have been returned to one of the million spots one could get them from.

Jack pads about his room, double-checking that he has everything packed. They’ll leave around six in the morning, which isn’t too early for Jack, but his routine’s been a bit wonky due to differently scheduled games and staying up later than he’s used to with Eric. He doesn’t want to be scrambling in the morning.

Eric feels another wave of emotion hit him, seeing Jack so prepared to leave. He doesn’t have even half of his own stuff put away yet. He really never ended up spending a lot of time in his own room, anyway, it won’t take him long to get his things together. He hopes.  

Swallowing hard, Eric bites at his lower lip. He feels like he did this afternoon, like things are ending and he really doesn’t want them to. It’s not fair. Even though he feels like he’s known the friends he made here forever, it also feels like it’s been such a short time they got to spend together. He’s not ready to give this up, he’s not ready to go back. He sniffles once and Jack turns on him, a look of concern crossing his face.

“Are you crying?” Jack asks softly, walking over to him. Eric rubs at his eye and sniffles again.

“What? No,” Eric lets out a little laugh. “Why would I be crying? That would be just ridiculous,” Eric laughs a little more, but his breath catches on the next inhale and turns into a pathetic little whimper.

“Eric,” Jack says, opening his arms. Eric stands and loops his arms around Jack’s waist, burying his face in Jack’s chest. “Bitty, what’s wrong?” Jack asks a moment later, rubbing his back.

“Nothing,” Eric says, pulling back just enough to rub his eye and then look up at Jack. “I just can’t believe this is all over.”

“The Olympics are over, yes,” Jack says gently. “But you get to keep the feelings, and the memories you made here.”

Eric nods his head, “Yeah, I know. I’m just… weepy, sometimes. I can’t help it,” he shrugs and Jack squeezes him tight.

A thought crosses Eric’s mind, and he’s not really sure if he should voice it. He thinks he wants to, and he thinks Jack would take it well, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t insecure about it anyway. He sucks in his breath, then tilts his head up again. “Jack?” he asks softly.

“Mmh?” is Jack’s only response.

“You know how you said you’d steal something from me before we went back?” he asks, and Jack regards him curiously.

“Yes, I recall. Are you missing something?” Jack asks, then opens his mouth as if he’s about to explain that he didn’t take anything.

“Maybe,” Eric says softly. “I do think you stole something from me, but whether it was your intention or not I’m not sure.”

“What?” Jack says, titling his head. “Can you be a little less cryptic, Bits?”

Eric chuckles a little. “It’s really cheesy now that I’m thinking of saying it out loud,” he says, bending his brows down.

“Ah, don’t just set me up like that. You can tell me what you want to say, promise,” Jack pleads. “Please?”

Eric takes in a deep breath and nods, “Okay. I wanted to tell you, you may not have nabbed a shirt from me or something of the like, but I think you might have stolen my heart instead.”

Looking up, Eric is graced with the image of Jack’s eyes filling with a quiet adoration. “Really?” he whispers.

Eric can feel his cheeks burning as he sees Jack’s face go a bit red. “Well, I mean, I know we said just the other night we should take things slow and I definitely still feel that way but… I can’t deny I already feel very strongly for you, Jack. I mean, I haven’t exactly been hiding that. I don’t know what it’s going to be like when we meet up again in our actual lives, but I’m really hoping it feels the same as it does here.”

“I think it will,” Jack says to him. “These circumstances are pretty specific, but we’re going to be the same people. I,” Jack pauses for a moment. “I feel very strongly for you, as well. I sort of assumed you’ve been able to tell. I like you a lot, Eric. And if you feel the same way I do, I don’t think we’ll have a problem sustaining a relationship just because we’re in a different country. We may not be able to see each other every single day, but there are tons of couples who don’t get to see each other all the time. If we want to do this, we can make it work.”

Eric feels a few tears prick at his eyes again so he just nods, then presses his face to Jack’s chest once again. “I can’t wait to see you again,” he mumbles, and Jack laughs a bit.

“I haven’t even left yet, Bits,” Jack says. At some point, he’d really picked up the nicknames, and Eric hasn’t said anything against them yet so Jack thinks he might just stick with using them.

“I know,” Eric huffs. “I already feel like I miss you, though.”

Jack presses a kiss to his head, “I know what you mean. We’ll see each other in a few weeks, it won’t be so bad. You’ll probably be so busy you won’t have a chance to miss me. We can text whenever we want and Skype when we have time.”

“Fair enough,” Eric says.

“Do you wanna sleep here, tonight?” Jack asks him, and Eric hums. It’s getting pretty late, especially by Jack’s standards.

“Do you want me to stay here, tonight?” Eric asks, and he looks into Jack’s eyes. Jack glances down to his lips, eyes a bit dark. Eric feels like his question has been answered.

They agreed to take their relationship ‘slow’, yes, but they’ve been having sex for two weeks now. Neither of them seem to want to take a step back in that regard.

It turns out Jack does still have some condoms and lube sitting in the top pocket of one of his bags. So, for one last time here, the two of them make love in Jack’s bed and fall asleep in a tangle of limbs.

Then, they awaken early at Jack’s alarm, and he slips off to shower. Eric spends the time alone waking himself up, getting dressed in the extra clothes he brought to Jack’s.  

It’s a little chilly, and Eric briefly wonders if he could get away with stealing one of Jack’s sweaters, but he ends up putting on his jacket and telling himself he has plenty of time to steal Jack’s clothing later on. They’ll be together in public soon, so he has to keep up appearances of two just-friends.  

When Jack returns, they spend about three minutes kissing before he says they should get going. Eric carries Jack’s backpack for him, and Jack gets the other bags himself. He has to go through returning his keys and everything, and after that he’s waiting outside with some of his team, his parents, Shitty, and a few others, likely friends that are tagging along to say goodbye to his teammates or other people flying to the States.

Eric and Jack stand close together, but Shitty’s just as close to Jack on the other side. They get in the taxis to the airport and drive off, Jack holding Eric’s hand for the duration. After that, it’s a waiting game until Jack and his folks have to move on and out of Eric’s sight.

They idly chitchat, Eric, Jack, and Shitty, until that time is almost up. As the clock winds down, Eric ends up hugging Jack much like he’d been hugging him the night before, his face hidden.

“Bits,” Jack murmurs, bringing his hand to rub Eric’s shoulders. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

“I know,” Eric says, voice quiet. He really hadn’t been expecting to be this broken up. It’s silly, really. He doesn’t need to be this dramatic, even if he’s awake at an ungodly hour and no human should be expected to control their emotions before 8am.

Still, they’re in public, and he needs to let go of Jack, so Eric sucks in a deep breath and pulls away. His smile is only a tiny bit watery when he looks up at him.

“I’ll miss you, too,” Jack says softly, so only he can hear it. The two share a moment, just gazing into each other’s eyes.

That moment is broken when a booming voice comes from behind as a thick hand claps Jack on the shoulder. “Zimboni! You are leaving this morning as well? I should have thought maybe you would be, same time as me.” He grins between them, and Eric lifts a hand to wipe his eyes. “What is this?” Tater asks suddenly. “Jack, you make him cry? That is not nice.”

Eric laughs a little, “I been crying for, like, an entire day now Tater. It’s okay, I promise.”

“Awh, come here,” Tater says and Eric lets himself be drawn into a bear hug from the huge Russian hockey player. He’s still laughing.

Tater pats Eric on the back only a tiny bit too hard, then leans down to whisper to him. Jack can likely hear, and maybe Shitty, but his voice is quieter than Eric would have thought possible. “Zimboni is lucky to have found you, who will cry over him. I’m sure he will, but make sure he treats you right.”

Eric’s face is a little red, but he nods his head when he looks at Tater. “Of course,” he says, swallowing. He looks between Jack and Tater, and Jack just makes a face that he can’t quite read.

Jack’s father is the one to announce they should be moving on now, so everybody should say their last goodbyes.

Eric hugs Shitty, tight and comfortable, then he hugs Jack’s parents after that. He says goodbye to some of the people Jack’s traveling with, such as Tater and a few players for Team Canada he sort of recognizes. Lastly, he hugs Jack again, longer than he should because Shitty is walking away on Jack a moment later. Their eyes meet once more and they smile at each other before Jack lets go of him.

“I gotta go,” Jack mutters. “I’ll text you.”

“Okay,” Eric says, squeezing Jack’s forearm.

“I’ll text you,” Jack calls as he walks away. “Or facebook message, whatever.”

“Okay!” Eric repeats with a little chuckle. He waves from his spot, taking in a deep breath. He doesn’t cry again, which he’s thankful for.

Before Eric even leaves the premises to Taxi back to the Olympic complex, he gets a message on Facebook letting him know Jack misses him already. He laughs at his phone and tells Jack he’s a dork, and to travel safely.

Eric’s content. He may have been sad to see Jack off, but Jack’s completely right, they’ll see each other again in a few weeks and then they’ll go from there. It’s not as if they’re in Vegas, and while many people may have left their hookups behind, Eric truly thinks what he and Jack have is something more. They really have a shot to be something amazing, Eric believes that. They’re going to give a try, anyway, and see if they can make it work. It will take time and work, like anything worth doing. If they truly want it, Eric thinks they can do this. If he was asked, Jack would agree as well.


	13. Chapter 13

It's sort of strange, being in a place that feels familiar despite the fact he's never been here before. Jack usually feels this way in new rinks, because all the same elements are present even if the location is different. This feels a bit bigger, though, and it's the very atmosphere that feels familiar. It’s like the first time he played an NHL game away from his home rink.

This isn't the NHL, but being back at the Olympics four years after his first time carries a very similar feeling.

Jack is out on the ice, training, just like he was at this point four years ago. There is a stark difference, though, given the plan he has to set into motion in just a few moments. This isn’t a normal training session. It definitely won’t be, soon.

Skating around the ice, he's without his helmet and his gloves, unlike the rest of the team. They all know what's going on, as does Shitty, Lardo, his parents, Mimi, and the Bittle's. Eric doesn't, or so Jack hopes. He's gone to great lengths to keep his plan secret. There are even cameras, which wasn't his idea, but he gave the okay for them to be there. He hopes Eric doesn't mind.

As soon as the thought crosses Jack's mind that Eric might mind, they dissolve into worrying that he might not like it, might be upset that he's being taken off guard, might have liked some more warning. Maybe Eric’s not be as ready for this as Jack is. What if that’s the case?

Someone claps their hand on Jack’s shoulder and he gives the man a panicked glance. The guy just gives him a thumbs up. He's a good friend of Jack's by now, having played with him at the last Olympic games. He’s on the Montreal Canadiens, which Jack’s been traded to.

<< Deep breathes, man. Everything's gonna be good, >> the man tells him in French. Jack nods, and takes the advice before his buddy skates off.

As Jack skates past the boards, he spots Eric and makes a gesture for him to come near. It's simultaneously the gesture for Shitty to bring Eric down to the ice, where a little mat has been placed down so nobody slips and falls. Wouldn't that be something, for Jack's grand plan to end in someone hitting their head off the ice with no helmet on? That would be disastrous. But that won't happen, because there's a mat there.

Jack takes one more lap around the ice, trusting Shitty to do his part and convince Eric to meet him out on the ice. When Jack arrives back to the spot, Shitty is stepping beyond the mat to reach out to Jack. This is part of the plan, so Jack reaches for Shitty as well. They each have a hand on each other's shoulder, as well as clap their hands together in a brief shake so Shitty can pass Jack the ring. Right after they do this, Jack's eyes land on Eric, Bitty, the man he loves with all of himself. He looks every bit as adorable as he did when Jack first laid eyes on him, and he's even wearing that old Team Canada t-shirt he borrowed from Jack four years ago and never gave back to him.

"What is this all about?" is the first thing out of Eric's mouth as soon as Jack skates up to him. Shitty puts his hand on Eric's shoulder as he walks past him, and because Eric has his eyes on Jack, Shitty gives Jack a thumbs up behind Eric’s back.

"Is everything okay?" Eric asks, utterly baffled. "Why don't you have all your gear on?"

"Everything is fine," Jack assures him. He has one hand balled so as not to drop what's within it, but he takes Eric's hand in his other. He knows it's clammy and probably gross but Jack has worried about that in the past and Eric always insists he doesn't care when Jack's hands are clammy, or when they're shaky, he still wants to hold them. Jack reminds himself of that and squeezes Eric’s hand.

"Okay," Eric says, brows bent down. He squeezes Jack's hand back, "Still. What's happening, exactly?"

Jack takes another breath and licks his lips, "I have something that I'd like to ask you."

Eric's eyes grow a little wider and he just nods, speaking slowly. "Okay, uh. Shoot?"

Jack nods as well, "Okay, yeah. Eric," he says, running his thumb over the back of Eric's hand, "I love you. The past four years have been some of the best of my life. When we met, at a venue awfully similar to this, I couldn't have guessed the impact you would have on me," Jack starts.

He watches Eric's face, taking note of his expression as it goes from hesitantly confused to a soft smile, emotion swimming in those big brown eyes of his. "I feel the same," Eric supplies quietly.

"I was so drawn to you, and I didn't know why, what it was about you, but I wanted to learn more about you. I'm incredibly lucky to have gotten the chance, and I've learned that you're a wonderful person. You’re filled with so much light. Being around you, I feel like I'm a better person, but it's not because you're trying to change me, it's because you accept me as I am. I never want to stop feeling how I feel when I'm with you, I never want to stop learning about you. After four years, I'm still equally as drawn to you, and I don't want to stop now." Jack doesn’t have the speech entirely memorized because he doesn’t want it to come off robotic, but he did list some of the elements he wanted to include. As his tongue darts out to lick his lips, he thinks he remembered to hit most of them.

"Jack," Eric murmurs, his eyes starting to get misty. Jack squeezes his hand and drops down on one knee as gracefully as he can on skates (he's practiced the move as often as he could in the past month or so) and Eric lifts his free hand to cover his mouth.

"So, I wanted to ask you, Eric. Would you marry me?" Jack looks up at him, opening his hand to produce the ring. Eric is crying, then he laughs.

"Yes, yes, of course! Lord, get up here!" Jack uses Eric's help to stand back up. As soon as he's there, Eric's got his arms around Jack's middle, pushing his face into Jack's chest. Jack brings his arms around Eric's body, loving and protective. One hand is still tightly wrapped around the ring because they skipped the part where Jack puts it on Eric's finger. Eric sniffles and then looks up, gripping the back of Jack's jersey, "You just had to be on skates, huh, as if you're not tall enough as it is?"

Jack laughs as Eric moves his hands up to Jack's neck and bends willingly to give him a watery kiss. It's only then Jack realizes he's crying a little as well.

"Hey, um," Jack starts when he pulls away. Eric tilts his head.

"What is it, honey?" He asks, his entire expression contented and adoring.

"I could give you the ring now, if you want?"

Eric lets out a laugh and holds out his hand. "Yes! Of course, sorry. I just had to hug you. Gosh, oops. I can't believe I didn't let you put it on."

"It's okay," Jack says, taking Eric's slightly shaky hand and slipping the ring on his finger, "we don't have to do things in the way that people might expect us to."

"You're right," Eric says fondly, looking down at the engagement ring on his hand. "I love you so much, Jack. Je t'aime."

"Je t'aime aussi," Jack tells him, reaching forward to hug him again.

They share one more kiss before Jack looks over Eric's shoulder and laughs a little. "What?" Eric starts as he turns around, eyes going wide again as he sees not only Jack's family, but his own, as well as Shitty, Lardo, and Mimi, along with a camera crew and interviewer.

"I think they might want a word," Jack tells him. Because the camera is on him, he knows Eric won't say it aloud, but the look on Eric's face lets Jack know he's being called a little shit.

"And they don't want yours?"

"Well, they knew this was happening," Jack shrugs at him. “They’ve heard from me already.”

"Oh my god, literally all those people knew and somehow y'all kept it from me?"

"Amazing, right? To be fair, most of them were only brought in a few days ago."

"I'm too impressed to be upset by the fact my mama knew and somehow didn't give me any indication." Eric shakes his head, then turns around again. "Did the camera catch it all?"

"The entire thing, as far as I know." "

“Good. I cannot wait to watch that back and just die of happiness all over again." Jack chuckles. Shitty told him Bitty would love having the moment on camera, guess he was right. "Well," Eric starts, "I guess you should go practice."

"Probably," Jack shrugs

"I'll see you later," Eric grins at him. "I really want to go hug my mother and see our friends right now."

"Please, do. Try to wear out some of their excitement for when I get to join you."

"Somehow I don't think that's gonna work so well, but I'll do my best."

Jack just gives a laugh and watches as Eric turns around, raising his hands to his cheeks as he walks into the group of people and accepts a tearful hug from his mother. He hears her ask him “Were you surprised?!” as well as the laughing response Eric gives her. Jack’s closest friends from the team skate up and put their arms around his shoulder as he watches Eric babble to their other friends, hugging one person as he talks to another about how happy he is.

<< I think practice is gonna go a little short today, >> Jack says to the guy next to him, who laughs.

<< Let’s just shoot the puck at the next a couple times while your fiancé gets congratulated. Then, you should join him. >>

 << Sounds good to me,” >> Jack nods.

Eric is currently in a trapped in a tight hug from two of the girls, Larissa and Mimi. Bob and Alicia keep snapping pictures of him as he moves from person to person. He even ends up hugging Kent Parson and Tater, who also caught wind of the plan sometime that morning and wanted to come congratulate Jack.

“You seriously had no idea?” Alicia asks him, as Eric turns, pulling back from the hug his father had pulled him into.

“Absolutely _no_ sweet clue. I mean, I know we were planning on getting engaged eventually, but I didn’t expect this at all.”

“It’s just, like, so perfect, though,” Mimi says. “You two met at the last Olympics, so it’s super adorable to pop the question here.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty good idea,” Eric agrees with a grin. He looks out onto the ice to see the guys running no discernible drills or anything of the sort. If he had to guess, he’d say they were just fucking around.

“Oh my god,” Eric runs a hand through his hair, “I’m gonna get married.”

“Oh, Dicky,” his mom squeals as she wraps her arms around him again. He laughs and pats her arm.

“Mama, you sound more excited than I am.”

“You’re just stunned right now, sweetheart. You’ll be over the moon for days, I just know it.”

“Yeah, I believe you,” he says as she lets go of him again. “It is incredible, though,” he says, eyes wide as he shakes his head, his face starting to hurt from smiling.

He continues to chat with his loved ones for a few minutes, not even noticing when the hockey players start to leave the ice. Eric definitely doesn’t hear it when Jack comes up behind him.

“Oh my goodness, I need to get a picture of the ring,” Eric is saying, pulling out his phone as he stares down at his hand fondly.

“For twitter, eh?” Jack asks, putting his hand on Eric’s shoulder. Eric jumps and his eyes goes wide.

“Jeeze, give a little warning?” Eric asks and Jack laughs at him, squeezing him close. Eric leans into him. “Will you go take those darn skates off so I can feel just the normal amount of short rather than fricking tiny?”

Jack laughs, but agrees. The little crowd of people move out of the way so he can get by and make it to the dressing rooms. He returns in less than five minutes, slinging his arm over Eric’s shoulder. Eric turns to him with a smile and puts an arm around his waist, then goes back to his conversation with Shitty.

Everything feels so right, so good. Jack’s happy, Eric’s happy, their family and friends are all happy, too. Never mind the fact that Olympics Ice Hockey hasn’t even started yet, now they have a wedding to plan, and Jack’s looking at retirement soon and will have to think of life beyond hockey, something he’s considered before but has never been able to really picture. It’s a little easier, with Eric under his arm, to think about what might come next. They’ll likely have children, Jack could take another photography class somewhere and get back into that, maybe they’ll think about Eric starting his own business rather just working for somebody else.

The future is bright no matter how they think of it. But those thoughts aren’t even on their minds, not really. Settled into each other, chatting happily with those around them, both Jack and Eric are completely in the present, basking in the wonder and love they have for each other. There will be plenty time, later, to think of everything else. Right now, they’ve just gotten engaged, and nobody’s even starting to get tired of talking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story: I actually wrote this scene, like, probably before I even wrote their first hookup. This was one of the first things I planned out hahah. 
> 
> Once again, thank you to every person who has read this, left comments and kudos, etc etc. I had a ball writing it and I'm glad other people have enjoyed it as well.


End file.
